The Life of the Child
by TheUn-POP-ableBubble
Summary: Sakura Haruno couldn't have been happier when Sasuke Uchiha returned to the Leaf Village and Team 7 was restored. Now, at age 20, when another Uchiha joins the ranks conflicts arise, dreams are lost, and, ultimately, a new family is born.
1. And So It Begins

**Author's Note: **Hi people of the world! Thanks for reading my fanfic! As a fair warning to you all, I do NOT read the manga and am, therefore, NOT up-to-date on what exactly goes down between Sasuke and Itachi. Nor do I know what Sasuke decides to do after killing his brother. This fanfic, and all that happens in it, are purely created from my imagination! Another warning: Sasuke may seem a little Out Of Character for some of you. I'm letting you know now, that I wrote him this way because, in all honesty, I am a big sucker for the loving, caring and protective kind of Sasuke. Anyway, that should be it! Read on fellow fanfic fans! I hope you enjoy what I've created!  
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**The Life of the Child**

**Part One: The Finding of the Child**

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**Chapter One: And So It Begins…**

A late summer afternoon found three young jounin resting in the comfort of a forest's shade. The three appeared to be resting from a long journey and anyone passing by could see that they needed the relaxation. All of them bore signs of exertion and fatigue that were easily spotted by any outsider.

The pink-headed one was massaging her large forehead as if fighting of a much unwanted, and painful migraine; the handsome male across from her had his eyes closed and sat in a position that made an onlooker assume he was in a state of meditation; the blond next to him was fidgeting like crazy and would wince and hiss if he moved his left wrist too much. Bandages showed that it was somehow wounded. Despite his body's warnings of 'That hurts!' the blond momentarily forgot about his injury as he leaned back on both his wrists only to jump up while hissing in pain.

"Ow!" While cradling his injured wrist, the blonde began to curse everything that brought him to this moment in time. "Damn that stupid mission! Damn that stupid ninja! Damn that stupid kunai! Damn that stupid rock! Damn that -"

"The mission wasn't _that_ bad dobe. Stop complaining." interrupted the other male.

His friend's intrusion on his damning rant only aggravated the already less-than-cheery man. "Bite me Sasuke! If anyone needs to shut up it's you! Talking is out of your character!!!"

Now both men were aggravated. "You wanna say that again loser?"

Hoping to nip the inevitable argument in the bud, the kunoichi spoke up. "Give it a rest you two. I have a headache and I -"

The female's protest went unheard. "You want me to say it again?! I'll say it a thousand times over if you want!! Bite. Me."

"_Don't test me Naruto_."

"Why? Cause you'll go all Chidori Nagashi on my ass if I do? C'mon teme! What're you gonna do?"

Growling under her breath, the kunoichi tried to amend peace again. "None of this is necessary guys. Konoha is just a few miles away and if we just -"

"I'll do more than Chidori unless you shut the hell up!"

"Y'know, no one ever said that you had to listen to my rant anyway jerk!! So why don't _you_ shut yourears and make both of us happy?!"

"Stop this right now; I'm _warning_ the both of you…."

Unfortunately, Sakura Haruno's warning fell on deaf ears as Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki continued their petty, little argument. Neither of them noticed the increasingly dark aura that surrounded their kunoichi teammate until it was too late.

**BAM!**

**WHACK!**

Cries of protest rang out from both shinobi as they caressed the newly formed bumps on each of their heads but the medic-nin had had enough of listening.

"_SHUT UP!!!!!_"

Both males immediately ceased all communication and watched in slight fear as their pink-haired comrade exploded into a frustrated rant.

"I HAVE HAD IT UP TO _HERE_ WITH THE BOTH OF YOU AND ALL OF YOUR CHILDISH CRAP!!!! IF YOU TWO SO MUCH AS _THINK_ ANOTHER WORD AGAINST EACH OTHER, I SWEAR TO THE GODS AND ALL THAT IS HOLY, I WILL USE EACH AND EVERY OPPORTUNITY I GET TO MAKE YOUR LIVES AS MISERABLE AS HELL!!!!!"

Huffing and puffing, Sakura watched her teammates blink at her. She could practically hear their thoughts of _'Is she sane?' _and/or _'Scarytemperscarytemperscarytemper…' _as if they spoke them aloud.

Sighing, the young Haruno pinched the bridge of her nose and spoke again; in a much more controlled voice, "Look… it's obvious that this mission has stressed all three of us out… let's just… I don't know… stop at the next town and take a break? Konoha doesn't expect us back for another two days anyway."

Not daring to go against the woman who was named Mission Leader – and who had super-strength to boot - the two men hastily agreed and soon the three jounin set off at a brisk pace through the tree tops.

Not a single word was spoken in the twelve minutes it took for the small party to come across a town.

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Sakura sighed in pure bliss. She felt as though she were on cloud nine as she soaked in the town's local hot springs. Surely there was nothing that could make her feel as content and divine as she did at that moment. Not a single thing. Sadly, she realized that she had already been in the springs for close to twenty-eight minutes. Her teammates were probably already done with their bath and waiting for her.

'_Well,' _reasoned the twenty year old, _'two more minutes aren't going to kill anybody.'_

Happy with her resolution, Sakura sank into the steaming waters and memories of Sasuke's return began to swim to the forefront of her mind.

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Sasuke had finally returned to Konoha at the age of seventeen after killing both Orochimaru and Itachi. He entered the gates in a state of severe injury and was sent to Sakura at the hospital for immediate care. The shock of seeing him after so long had numbed her into healing him quickly, efficiently, and flawlessly. She had kept her eyes trained on his face during the procedure; as if ensuring herself that there wasn't any genjutsu or trickery that had somehow altered physical characteristics on her patient. Once he was without blood or scar the ANBU had come to bring him to Tsunade for questioning and sentencing. Before they dragged him away though, he had grabbed her wrist, looked into her jade orbs and simply said, "Sakura, thank you." The memories attached to that phrase drove her to take the rest of the day off and lock herself in her apartment - far away from the rest of the world.

She had remained like that for the next few days. She didn't give any response when Naruto came pounding on her door telling her about Sasuke and his (rather light) punishment, or when Ino knocked and demanded and audience with her best friend to make sure she was alright, or when Kakashi appeared to offer little trips to various food stands, or when Sai had tried to coax her out to shut Naruto up. She just sat in a corner of her apartment, hugging the picture of Team 7 close to her heart.

On the morning of her fifth day of isolation an unexpected voice traveled through her locked door. A smooth, deep, and commanding voice called out, "Sakura." It wasn't even questioning whether she was there or not. It was demanding entrance. Sakura gripped her beloved picture closer to her chest. The time for tears had come and passed a couple days ago and she was currently content to remain in a frozen, blank state. But then _he_ had to visit. Why, oh why, did he let anyone convince him to come here? _How?_ Didn't anyone realize that he was the reason she was locked up? Still, the need to see him had become… urgent.

Sakura surprised herself by replying to Sasuke's call. Her voice was hoarse from lack of use so it took her a few tries to choke out, "Spare key in the plant in the lobby." She heard mumbles on the other side of the door and footsteps eventually faded only to return moments later. Sakura didn't even look up when her door's lock clicked and her top three guys entered her apartment. Kakashi was the first to spot her in the unlit room.

"Oh, Sakura…" he had said. His comment directed Naruto's attention to her huddled form as well and he ran straight to her side asking if she was alright and if she had been eating at all. She was so, so, _so_ thin. But his concerns went unheard; Sakura only had eyes for the third male that had stumbled through her doorway. Sasuke was there, in her apartment. He was_ there_. This was proof that she hadn't imagined him those days ago in the hospital. Overwhelming relief rushed through her system and her grip on the picture frame loosened considerably; so much so that the three shinobi's attention was immediately drawn to it.

"Sakura-chan, what's that?"

Still ignoring Naruto, Sakura reached out her stiff arms towards Sasuke – like an infant begging to be picked up - beckoning him to come closer. Surprised, and a little cautious, Sasuke carefully made his way over until he was crouching beside her, opposite of Naruto. Hesitantly, she ran her tense hands over him; over his hands, his arms, his shoulders, his face, his hair. She couldn't believe he was real, he hadn't even shown any signs of protest as she continued tracing his features. Naruto and Kakashi had both remained silent throughout the ordeal and gave a small start as Sakura flung herself at Sasuke, wrapping her arms around his neck and weeping and laughing all at once. Caught by surprise, Sasuke had to throw his arms behind him to prevent falling on his back. Before any other action could be taken Sakura pulled back from Sasuke, cupped his face with her hands, and somehow managed to speak through her hysterical break down.

"Don't you dare try to put me through that again, you pathetic excuse for a man! If you so much as think about leaving us a second time, I promise that you won't get far with two broken legs. I should give you the beating of your life for coming back like it was all no big deal but I'm just… I'm _so glad_ that you're _home_!" Her bright smile and ecstatic tone betrayed any threats that she spoke. Impatiently brushing his bangs away from his taken aback expression she planted a kiss on his forehead before she trapped him in a tight hug once again.

Kakashi smiled and shuffled from one foot to the other when he randomly stated, "I'll just go order some take-out ramen for us then. Be right back!"

His vanishing poof reminded Sakura of her other guest and she completely removed herself from Sasuke only to repeat a similar routine with Naruto. When she pulled back from him she lunged forward and grabbed each of them with one arm in a desperate three-way hug. She was still crying and laughing uncontrollably as she continued to babble unintelligible nonsense. Over her shoulders, her two teammates shared glances. They both knew that they never wanted to see Sakura like this again. They didn't need to be medical ninjas to know that isolating oneself, refusing to eat for days, and then breaking out into a thousand different emotions all at once was not healthy. Just as Kakashi walked through the door with a large ramen delivery, the two men formed an unspoken pact; they would protect this fragile teammate of theirs. Never again would she suffer like this – they would both make sure of it.

Sakura had only pried her arms off of them when she saw that Kakashi was back. She proceeded to stand and tackle him in a similar embrace albeit clumsily. Luckily the ramen was saved by Naruto while Kakashi laughed, smoothed her hair and brought her down to a calm state of mind. They ate their early lunch right there on Sakura's apartment floor with a blanket underneath them to serve as a sort of picnic blanket. The room was full of cheer as jokes and jabs were tossed back and forth between the four ninja. It seemed as though the smiles/smirks on all four of their faces would never leave. Naruto and Sakura both ate nine bowls each while Kakashi and Sasuke were satisfied with their single helping of noodles. Kakashi laughed as Sakura licked her lips after finishing her final bowl.

"Looks like I guessed right at ordering twenty bowls huh?"

"You sure were!!" came two very happy responses from two very full teenagers.

Kakashi laughed again. He hadn't even realized how deeply he missed his little Team 7. Even though Sasuke had left a gaping hole in the make-shift family when he left, it didn't seem to matter. In fact, as the four of them sat there eating ramen, it felt as though the hole had completely ceased to exist. Or perhaps it was never really there. It was difficult to tell with the current mood that filled the room. Everything had just… fallen into place… just like the way it was when they were all much younger.

"Hey Sakura," Naruto's voice interrupted Kakashi's train of thought. "What were you holding when we first came in?"

"Oh, that?" Curious as much as Naruto was Kakashi trained his eye on her gentle smile as she reached behind her to obtain the fallen object. She brought it in front of her and flipped it around so that we could see it. We all softened our expressions at the photo of our old genin team.

"Sakura-chan…"

She turned it around to face her again and hugged it to her chest, tightly closing her eyes in the process. "I was remembering… all of our little adventures… the missions, the camping, the training, the hanging out… and I was so worried that… that I'd never have that again…"

A slightly nostalgic mood fell upon them then and they all lapsed into silence, each remembering adventures of their own. So deep was their reminiscence that they all jumped as a loud knock came from the closed door. A commanding voice accompanied the knock.

"Sakura Haruno? If you are present, it is the ANBU. Please open the door."

Confused as to why the ANBU would be at her door, Sakura rose from her position on the floor only to sway from fatigue.

"Easy." soothed a low voice as a pair of hands steadied her. Sasuke carefully set the pinkette back on the floor and proceeded to open the door himself.

The single ANBU officer on the other side was taken by surprise, "Sasuke Uchiha??"

"Sakura Haruno is unable to answer your summons at the present time. Is there something you require of her?"

"Not of her," the ANBU glanced beyond Sasuke's shoulder and spotted the make-shift picnic that the team had made along with the people seated on the floor. "Kakashi Hatake?"

Kakashi didn't move from his comfortable position against the wall as he replied, "Yes? What is it?"

"Hokage-sama requires your presence in her office as soon as possible."

"Oh? What for?"

"A mission. The details will be discussed in her Lady's office."

"Hmm…" Kakashi looked at his former students. Sasuke was looking at him expectantly; he was even holding the door open for him to pass through. Naruto was shooting him a curious glance as though trying to figure out what the jounin was thinking. Sakura wasn't looking at him at all. She only gripped her photo harder and ducked her head. Kakashi's expression softened again. She didn't want him to leave yet. He sighed. Well, if she didn't want him gone, he wouldn't go.

His mind made up, Kakashi turned to the ANBU and gave a smile and a small hand wave. "No thanks." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sakura look up at him.

The ANBU was once again surprised but managed to keep his cool. "I'm afraid that Hokage-sama's summon was not an invitation."

"Then tell her I'm taking a personal day." Kakashi chuckled as he pictured Tsunade's reaction to his response, "The gods know that I need one."

The officer took in a deep breath. "I understand that the four of you have time to catch up on -"

"Oh, then you understand perfectly well why I'm taking the day off! I trust you, then, to explain to Hokage-sama why I cannot accept this mission and that she'll have to find someone else."

The ANBU paused as if unsure what to do about the situation. Eventually he said, "Don't be surprised if I come back." and left in a show of smoke. This left the three teens to stare at their former mentor with questions shining in their eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura was the first to speak, "Why did you do that?"

"Well I can't leave you three alone in this apartment without adult supervision. You are at _that age_ after all. Naruto and Sasuke are in that one-track-hormonal-mind mode and I wouldn't want to come back from a mission to find pink-haired Uchiha brats or green-eyed Uzumaki juniors running loose amok Konoha."

"Kakashi-sensei!!" rang out three separate protests. Kakashi only laughed.

The three men ended up staying the night after a casual dinner at a near by diner. While Kakashi claimed Sakura's bed, the other three created a kind of nest made up of blankets and pillows thrown together in a pile.

It was well past midnight when the team's pillow fight - which mostly consisted of the three ganging up on Sasuke, forcing him to either participate or be smothered - subsided and Kakashi watched all three of his former students fall victim to sleep; not unlike a father watching his own children as they dreamt.

For the next hour he just lay there, watching the three of them cuddled against each other with Sakura in the middle. He felt peaceful watching them. Then he noticed that the girl gripped one of her boys' hands in each of hers. Kakashi sighed. Sakura had truly fallen apart at the seams when their team had fallen short one member; but all was forgiven and all the wrongs seemed to have been put right.

Kakashi let out a small chuckle as Naruto rolled away from the other two and promptly fell off of their make-shift bed. To make up for the lost heat, Sakura snuggled closer to Sasuke who seemed to instinctively wrap his free arm around her waist. Kakashi sighed. He was growing old. He was already watching his little Sakura fall in love all over again.

'_Well, I can't say that he won't take care of you.'_ Kakashi watched the snuggling couple for a short while longer before closing his eyes to drift off.

'_You were an idiot for leaving her once Sasuke; be sure you don't do it a second time.' _Aw, cripes. He really _was_ growing old.

And with that last thought, Kakashi too, fell victim to the callings of a good-night's rest.

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"SAKURA-CHAN!!! ARE YOU DONE YET?!?!" a loud voice broke Sakura away from her trip down Memory Lane. Sakura sighed and prayed for patience. Must Naruto insist on disturbing her Sakura-Only Time? She had only taken half an hour.

"I'll be right out Naruto!!" she called back. Pulling herself from the soothing waters she began to recall which injuries were non-lethal when dealt to the human body. Sakura chuckled to herself as she dressed in black shorts and red t-shirt. Zipping up her jounin vest and strapping on her weapon pouches completed her outfit as she stepped out to the main lobby to put on her knee-high boots. As she expected, Sasuke and Naruto were there waiting for her.

"Hey guys! Were you waiting long?"

"Nah! Teme here takes about as long as you do."

"Shut up, you loser. You were enjoying the springs as much as I was."

"Psh! Yeah, okay! Whatever, creep."

Sakura laughed at their brotherly interaction. "That's enough, boys. We came here to relax, remember?"

"Yeah, well tell that to emotionless here." Naruto jabbed his thumb in Sasuke's direction.

"How 'bout I tell it to the hyperactive knucklehead who couldn't sit still if his life depended on it?"

"Hey! I could sit still if ramen was on the line!" Sakura laughed. She didn't doubt the blond for a second.

Naruto smiled at her before he grabbed both her and his best friend's arm and dragged them towards the front door. "C'mon, let's get out of here!" Ignoring the sighs and eye rolls from his teammates, Naruto threw open the door and dragged the two away from the bath house only to freeze in his tracks after a few steps. His teammates sensed trouble and immediately stiffened into defensive positions.

"Naruto? What's wrong?"

The ninja spoke only one word, "Smoke."

Sakura was confused. Smoke? "Naruto wha-"

Sasuke answered her question before she finished asking it. "To the east Sakura."

Following both her teammates gazes, the kunoichi turned her eyes to face east and saw a large, black cloud rising from the ground. She could hear faint yells and screams coming from the same direction. Her medic inside of her kicked in and she broke away from her teammates, running towards the column of black that could only mean one thing; fire.

"Sakura!"

"Sakura-chan, it's not safe!"

She turned her head back to her comrades and explained, "Someone could be hurt! I have to help them!" before bolting off towards the distant burning building.

"Don't!"

"Sakura-chan!"

When she refused to listen, her teammates chased after her with only one second thought: what exactly were they getting themselves into?

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**Author's Note: **And that wraps up Chapter One! Thanks for reading guys! Feel free to review but don't feel guilty if you don't! And if you DO decide to review, please don't feel guilty to tell me where I can work on my writing skills! I want to hear all of your thoughts; good and bad!


	2. A Dead Woman's Wishes

**Author's Note: **Glad to see you here at chapter two! I'd just like to thank vegemaru for being my first reviewer and my friend Marysia for being so supportive of me! Anyway, this chapter is where the plot actually starts; chapter one was mostly a set up for everything that happens here. Fair warning though: this chapter is a bit shorter than the last one. Enjoy your reading!

**Disclaimer:** I can't believe I forgot to add this to the first chapter! My bad! So, standard disclaimer, I do not own Naruto. All I own is the plot and Seiji and Koyuna (you'll meet them in this chapter).

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**Chapter Two: A Dead Woman's Wishes**

Sakura was working feverishly on a woman who had sustained serious and fatal burns. She was currently working in her own hotel room with the woman sprawled on her bed. Sasuke, Naruto and a little boy – Sakura guessed that he was the woman's son – waited patiently outside her door.

When the team had reached the burning building, the civilians were already trying to douse the flames with buckets of water. Drawing from the power of his Sharingan, Sasuke managed to drown the flames with a water jutsu before more damage was done and Naruto had quickly helped to gather and steady any injured people while figuring out what had happened. Sakura had been healing minor burns on three people at once when the severely injured woman caught her attention. From what Sakura was able to gather, the woman had thrown her son out of the door moments before the flaming roof collapsed on top of her. The townspeople had dug her out but she was now in need of very intensive care. She was brought immediately to Sakura's room where Sakura attempted to heal or at least sooth the worst of the burns. The only problem was that even the best of this lady's burns were a problem if she wanted to stay alive. Sakura had to move quickly.

She was about to work on the burns on the woman's abdomen when a black hand stopped her. Sakura grimaced when she realized that the skin was practically burnt to ash.

"That's quite enough ma'am. You and I both know that I'll never survive this." Her voice was harsh and raspy. Sakura's face paled while she watched the woman cough and struggle to breathe. Smoke inhalation. The woman was suffocating right in front of Sakura's eyes.

"That's not true," Sakura placed a shaking palm to the woman's throat to sooth the irritated trachea. "I can heal you; you can make it through this."

A sound that was a poor shadow of a chuckle came from the woman's cracked lips. "I have accepted my death."

"You can't give up just like that! I can help you -"

"Please. Just please listen to a poor woman's final wishes." Sakura fell silent and cut off the healing chakra from her hands. She vaguely realized that this woman was only a few years older than herself. She would guess at twenty-five, twenty-six. Sakura feel silent when she realized that this woman had barely lived at all...

"Good. You are listening." The woman took a deep breath before starting, "My name is Koyuna. I do not come from this town. My family lives far from here, in a distant land, and believes me to be dead; I have no wish to inform them otherwise. I won't have lied to them; I soon will be dead. But my son," She closed her eyes as if fighting back stinging tears. "My little Seiji, he is all I have; he is all that matters. I hate to leave him alone so early in his life but it is unavoidable." Koyuna opened her eyes and looked over Sakura's still form. Spotting her headband she inquired, "You are a ninja. I assume you know of Itachi Uchiha?"

Shocked at the sudden mention of the dead man's name Sakura nodded. "What does he have to do with this?"

Koyuna gently smiled at the medic before explaining, "He is the father of my son."

Sakura choked. Itachi had been a father?! But… how on earth had he kept this hidden from the world? No one ever had any intelligence of Itachi involved with any female, let alone starting a family. Sakura searched Koyuna's scorched face for any traces that this was a sick joke but found none. Sakura let it sink in. Itachi had had a _son_. A little Uchiha heir was standing just beyond the door to her room. Sakura's eyes widened as she remembered that there was more than one Uchiha outside her room. Sasuke was an uncle. And he didn't even realize his blood relation to the small child that sat not five feet away from him.

"You're sure?" Sakura whispered.

Koyuna smiled. "There is no mistake." A period of silence over came the room as Koyuna let Sakura absorb this information. When she deemed the pinkette to be at attention once again Koyuna spoke again, "As a ninja you are aware that Itachi has been dead for little less than three years."

Sakura nodded in confirmation. "Yes. His killer is just outside this room."

Koyuna did not seem surprised. In fact, she almost seemed dazed as though she was not completely aware of what was being said to her. "His brother, yes? Well, that's convenient… I was on my way to Konoha to seek him out when Seiji and I were caught in that fire… They both ought to know about the existence of their own family, don't you agree?"

Sakura could not find it in herself to nod her head. She honestly didn't know how Sasuke would react if he learned that, in a vague sense, his brother lived on in the blood of a child. He seemed so different now that he believed Itachi to be gone from the world. Not exactly more cheerful, but certainly different from what he was before he left. She couldn't predict what he'd do if he ever found out about Seiji's parentage.

"I wanted him to help raise my little Seiji but perhaps that was foolish of me. No doubt he is thinking of starting a family of his own." Koyuna chuckled as if sharing a private joke with herself.

Suddenly Koyuna declared, "I want you to take care of him."

Sakura snapped her head up to meet Koyuna's eyes and vibrant green clashed with dulling mint. She wanted _her_ to take care of her child? Koyuna gripped one of Sakura's hands with both of her own and beseeched her, "You will take care of him won't you? You will promise to take my Seiji under your wing and raise him as though her were your own son won't you? Raise him and love him as if he were your flesh and blood? Do you promise me?"

Sakura paused momentarily. She was only twenty years old. She didn't know what to do with a kid. Sure she had begun to think about creating a family but those plans were scheduled to start after the prime time in her career had passed. She couldn't be ready to raise a child; she couldn't promise that he would be safe or happy. But as she stared into Koyuna's pleading orbs she knew that she could not say no. This was Koyuna's final wish and she would do anything in her power to uphold it; even if it meant adopting her own teammate's nephew.

"I promise I will."

Koyuna sunk back into the mattress of the bed and let out a breath of relief. Sakura decided that Seiji should see his mother before she left. As she opened the door to let the five year old boy in she glanced at the two men and implored them to remain quiet before letting them enter the room as well.

Seiji was on the bed and wrapped in his mother's arms. He was crying and shaking with silenced sobs. Koyuna stroked his dark hair and kept mumbling "I love you." in his ear. Team 7 looked on with somber expressions; Seiji's cries were heartbreaking. Koyuna looked up and locked her fading green eyes with Sakura's before her body fell slack and she breathed one final time.

"Kaa-san!!!"

Seiji didn't try to mask his sobs now; he cried his heart out over his mother's dead body. With tears of her own shining in her eyes Sakura walked to Seiji and pulled his limp form away from his mother. He shifted in her arms and aimed his crying into her shirt as she cradled him and attempted to sooth him. Tears broke free from her green eyes and traveled down her face. It wasn't fair that he had to suffer at such a young age.

Sasuke closed Koyuna's eyes and bowed his head in a silent prayer while Naruto kept a tear-filled eye on his female teammate and the child ensnared in her arms. He felt completely useless. He couldn't protect anyone from this kind of injury. You couldn't fight it, you couldn't block it, and no one could jump in front of you to take the blow. You were on your own when it came to injuries of the heart.

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Late that night, Naruto and Sasuke found Sakura watching over a sleeping Seiji as he cuddled into his mother's side. The three watched for a short while, each one thinking of their own mothers.

"I'm going to take care of him."

The two males only nodded their heads at the female's blatant statement. What else could they do? Sakura hadn't said anything that transpired between her and Koyuna so her teammates had no idea who the boy's father was or where they could find him. Sakura had decided that it was neither the time nor the place to hit them with such significant news. But she couldn't just let Seiji's parentage remain unknown, especially if he was coming home with her.

With that decided, Sakura stood, walked to a corner, whipped out a scroll and brush, and began writing a message to Tsunade explaining all that Koyuna had said, the current situation, and what was being done about it. It also begged Tsunade to tell no one about Itachi's involvement in the situation until she had spoken to her first.

When she finished writing, she sealed the scroll and handed it to Naruto while she gave instructions. "You two will head back to Konoha. Tell Tsunade what's happened. I will stay here with Seiji for a burial before heading back myself. Give this scroll to Tsunade. It contains important information. You two are forbidden to read it." Naruto took the scroll from her hand and packed it in his bag. Since she was the Leader of this mission, he and Sasuke had no choice but to obey her commands.

"When do we leave?" asked Sasuke.

"Immediately after you pack your bags."

* * *

Sakura held Seiji's small hand as they both watched Koyuna's body being laid in the freshly dug dirt. Seiji had been surprisingly quiet during the short service that the civilians provided and even now, when there was no question and no doubt that his mother was truly dead, he didn't succumb to sobs and grieved in silent tears.

The townspeople packed down the dirt on top of the newly formed mound and, one by one, began to leave. Seiji pulled away from Sakura's grasp and reached out to pat the mound. With one of his fingers he wrote in the soil 'I love you'. Sakura kneeled beside him as he just stared at his final message.

"She wants you to take care of me doesn't she?" Sakura didn't move as Seiji trained his intelligent eyes on her face. He wouldn't quite meet her gaze.

Sakura nodded. "Yes she does."

He looked back at his message. He wrote it out once more before he ran to Sakura's arms where he finally broke out into sobs. She rubbed his back as she embraced him and tried her best to hold in her own tears. She needed to be strong for him and for herself. Naruto and Sasuke weren't there to help her this time; she was on her own with a child who (she felt) was much too young to feel this kind of grief. What had he possibly done to deserve this? What had Sasuke done? What had Naruto done? A single tear escaped her eye as she thought of her own boys back home. They had both had more than their fair share of tragedies and suffering in their short life times.

'_But,_ Sakura tried to console herself, _look at them now. They're so good to me and everyone else. They've known so much and it's shaped them into the wonderful men they are now.'_

Sakura zoned out as she recalled all the times when Sasuke and Naruto would save her during a mission; when they'd treat her to lunch; when they'd keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't overwork herself; when they spent the whole day with her when she was so emotionally broken. Sakura glanced down at the child in her arms.

'_Oh Seiji,' _she thought as she tightened her grasp, _'we'll make sure that you turn out wonderful too.'_

The medic turned her gaze upwards, towards the blue heavens. _'You've left him in good hands Koyuna.'_

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well, there's the start of the plot for ya! I'd love for you guys to review with your thoughts/feelings about how this is turning out so far. Don't worry about being critical and hurting my feelings or something; I'm tough, un-pop-able remember? :D


	3. The Secret's Out

**Author's Note: **I'm sorry that you had to wait a little while for this one but the thing is, I like to finish writing the **next** chapter before I post a new one. (So chap 4 had to be finished before I could post this, 5 will be done when I post 4, etc etc) I just thought I'd let you guys know that. Anyway, thank you to all who reviewed (MyUsedRomance, xXxtellmewhyxXx, broken-heart-crossing, ..Plan, , gaarasracoon, and Apophis the Vile) and a big thanks to all who reviewed both chapters of my story! **(Twigs-N-Leaves, S.A. Hikari, minniemousemom, vegemaru, and rao hyuga 18) **Your reviews really mean a lot! So thanks again guys!! ^-^ Now, on to chapter three!

**Disclaimer:** If I actually owned Naruto I wouldn't be writing this now would I??

**Chapter Three: The Secret's Out**

Sakura had expected Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi to greet her at the gates but she had not anticipated Tsunade's appearance. Sakura would have bowed if she didn't currently carry a napping child on her back.

Tsunade gave her a long look before she allowed her eyes to flash to the newest addition to the village. "That's him?"

Sakura nodded. "It is."

Tsunade furrowed her eyebrows a little, thinking about what to do now. "Come to my office for immediate debriefing Haruno."

Sakura stood up a little straighter. Tsunade meant serious business when she addressed Sakura by using her last name. "Yes Shishou." Tsunade turned on her heel and began to walk towards the Hokage Mountains with Sakura close behind her. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi followed Sakura and tried to start up small talk.

"How is he Sakura-chan?"

"Worn out."

"Yeah? Poor guy…"

"Excuse me but, I'm curious; who is this?" Kakashi indicated the child resting on Sakura's back. The kunoichi was confused. Hadn't her teammates informed Kakashi on what had happened?

"His name is Seiji. Why is this your first time hearing about him?"

"I went on a very brief mission of my own. I only got back three hours before you."

"And why," Sakura directed her question to her two teammates, "haven't you two told Kakashi-sensei anything?"

To her surprise, Sasuke replied first with a sharp look, "We have questions of our own that we would like answered. You're the only one who seems to know exactly what's going on."

"Yeah, it's like what the jerk said. We figured it'd be best if you told Kakashi-sensei the whole story and clear things up for us all at once."

Sakura eyed her teammates cautiously. They seemed suspicious; like they knew that she was with-holding information from them. It was probably best to play innocent.

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'clear things up'. You both know as much as I do about the situation."

"Then what was in the scroll that you had me and Naruto deliver?" Sakura matched Sasuke's glare with one of her own. Did he have to be so insistent? Why was he so curious anyway?

"Yeah, yeah! What was on it? And why weren't we allowed to read it?" Great, now he had Naruto suspicious too. Sakura could already feel a headache coming; how was she supposed to keep her persistent comrades at bay?

Fortunately Tsunade intervened before anymore could be said on the matter, "Uzumaki! Uchiha! You are both acting out of line! There is nothing more to the situation than there appears to be so quit your interrogation on Haruno."

Naruto seemed to shrink back a little as he shut his mouth but Sasuke only narrowed his eyes even further. It seemed that Tsunade also knew the complete story and was also hiding crucial information; crucial information that he had just handed over to her only a few hours previous! How could he have been so dense? The answers had been carefully stored in Naruto's pouch the entire time and he gave them away to a woman who refused to say anything on the matter. But why would Sakura and Tsunade want to keep something secret? What was the issue with this child? Sasuke decided to test the Hokage once more.

"But that's just it Hokage-sama; it would appear that there _is_ more to the situation that neither you nor Sakura are willing to reveal."

"If that is the case," Tsunade growled, "then I trust that you, as a loyal shinobi of this village, would put complete and utter faith in the judgment of your Hokage and of your teammate on what information is necessary to be advertised."

Sasuke stiffened; she had trapped him. "Of course, Hokage-sama." He saw Tsunade smirk as she celebrated her small victory.

It was obvious that she had played one too many politic games; he was not going to win through reason and logic. She would only twist and spin around his words until he got dizzy.

_Although,_ Sasuke realized, _there is another option._

Sasuke tilted his gaze to the pink-haired woman beside him. She also held the answers and was not as well trained as Tsunade in the way of words. Perhaps he would have more luck prying Sakura for information.

When they finally reached her familiar door Tsunade faced the small party behind her. "Haruno will come inside with me. The rest of you will wait here in the hall until I find out exactly what to do with all of you. Haruno, bring in the child."

Tsunade locked the door as soon as the medic had entered her office and proceeded to place a paper seal on the door as well. Then she cast a silencing jutsu around the room, making sure that their conversation would not carry outside the room's walls. She then blocked the windows that made up the wall behind her desk; no one could be allowed to see anything that happened in the next timeframe.

Sakura had set Seiji down against a wall during her mentor's lockdown of the room and did not even notice that he had started to stir because of the movement.

"Sakura…" Tsunade sighed, "What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into?"

Sakura stood and glared. Seiji was _not_ a mess. "This event was completely unforeseen and could not have been avoided -"

Tsunade cut her off with a sharp look. "I don't mean the boy." Sakura froze, unsure of what Tsunade's intentions were. "I mean your team." Sakura let out a breath and stared at the floor.

"What about them?" she mumbled.

"You haven't told them about Itachi's connection to this boy." It wasn't even a question and Sakura winced at the ice that was laced within Tsunade's accusation. The Hokage sighed. "Sakura, I know that you think what you've done is right and I understand your reluctance to share this information with your teammates; Sasuke in particular. But I have to tell you Sakura, _nothing good ever comes from pushing your friends away_."

Sakura gripped her now pounding head with one of her hands. She couldn't listen to this; if she did, it might start to sound right. "They're ask too many questions. They're better off – _Sasuke's_ better off - not knowing about any of this. They don't need to know!"

"But they _want_ to know. They ask you questions because they _want_ _to help you_."

"They wouldn't help me if they knew!" she screamed, losing her composure and gripping her head even tighter. Sakura could feel tears starting to sting her eyes. She hadn't realized that gaining Seiji and losing Koyuna had such affects on her emotional stability.

"I think they would. I think that there is little that they would not do for your sake."

"How can I ask them to help me raise the son of an Uchiha?!" Sakura wailed and fell to her knees in a distressed mess. She couldn't do that, she couldn't possibly… They had done a lot for her over the years – too much – and she had done little in return. She just _couldn't_ ask for their help, not again. She could do this without anyone's help; she could be strong and hold her own with this one. She could do it… She'd have to…

"Uchiha?" a little voice spoke up. Tsunade and Sakura turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Seiji was awake and he was confused. "Is he my tou-san?"

Tsunade widened her eyes. "You don't know who your father is?"

"Kaa-san showed me pictures but she never told me his name."

Tsunade moved beside him and used a gentle voice, "What did she tell you?"

"That he was killed when I was just two years old. But she told me other stuff too." Seiji wrinkled his face in thought as though trying to catch a very fleeting memory. "She once told me… that he was a great ninja… that he was powerful and strong but also full of love… love for his precious people… she said that we were his precious people and that he died protecting us and loving me above anything else… she said that she hoped I'd become just like him…"

Sakura tried to hush a strangled cry that itched to escape her throat. Just like Itachi? She prayed with everything she had that he wouldn't. If he started picking up Itachi's mannerisms, it would be that much harder to keep the truth hidden from Sasuke.

"That's all I can remember."

Tsunade rubbed his small shoulder. "That's okay. Thank you for telling us."

Seiji nodded his head and then turned to look at Sakura. He watched as she fought with herself to bring her mind to a calm state of being. He jumped when her eyes caught him staring and he averted his eyes quickly.

Uncomfortable with the situation he asked Tsunade, "Do I have to stay here?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes. We have a lot of things to talk about."

Disappointed, but also curious, Seiji raised a brow, "What kind of things?"

"Things like your new home, how this village works, and your future enrollment in the Ninja Academy."

"No."

Tsunade was shocked at Sakura's tone of voice. There was deep protest etched into that single word. But Tsunade was the Hokage and she held the power of authority in her hand.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. He will _not_ be attending the Academy." Tsunade matched Sakura's death glare and stood tall in an attempt to intimidate.

"He will if I say so. I am the Hokage, Haruno, and my word is law to you."

"And he," Sakura stood as well in an act of defiance, "is under my care. You will need my authorization to enroll him in the Academy and I will not give it."

The glaring match continued throughout the brief pause that entered the room. Tsunade gave a quiet hiss, "Do you expect to raise him to be a regular civilian? From a military point of view this boy could be more than helpful in any future war and a great asset to the village and its reputation. To waste such talent -"

"He has shown no evidence of talent."

"Do you think it will stay that way for long given his heritage?"

Sakura had no argument.

"You listen to me Haruno; this boy will show the makings of a great shinobi sooner or later whether you enroll him in the Academy or not. Eventually, his father's blood will awaken inside of him and he will possess the Sharingan. If he remains ignorant of his own bloodline ability then he will be taken by surprise. He will not know where the sudden surge of power came from and he will not know how to harness or control it. Educating him would do much more good than it would harm. And besides, don't you think he deserves to know about his father?"

Sakura stumbled backwards. She hadn't wanted to hear that word; the one that could easily sway any decision that she had ever made. Tsunade's eyes glinted as she found Sakura's soft spot. While she hated herself for punishing Sakura like this, she had no choice; Seiji had to become a ninja.

"Doesn't he _deserve_ to know about the power that he holds? Doesn't he _deserve _the right to learn what his father learned? To know what he was like? To know why he died when he did? Doesn't he _deserve_ that?"

Sakura covered her ears, shook her head, and sent hair and tears flying. She was trying to block out Tsunade's words but it was no use. They had already infected her brain and were repeating themselves over and over in her head.

"_Don't you think he deserves to know about his father?"_

"_Doesn't he deserve that?__"_

"_Doesn't he __deserve__ to know about the power that he holds?"_

"_Doesn't he deserve that?__"_

"_Doesn't he __deserve__ the right to learn what his father learned?"_

"_Doesn't he deserve that?__"_

"_To know what he was like?"_

"_Doesn't he deserve that?__"_

"_To know why he died when he did?"_

"_Doesn't he deserve that?__"_

"_Doesn't he?__"_

Of _course_ he deserved it!! He deserved all of it!! He deserved _more_ than all of that!!! He deserved a loving family!! He deserved a father that would teach him the way of the Uchiha, he deserved a loving mother who would sing him to sleep; he deserved Itachi and Koyuna!! But he didn't deserve Sakura. Not her, never her. Seiji could never have deserved this creature who was trying to keep everything away from him; the one who was trying so hard to deny his parentage to make her own life easier; who wasn't ready to look after him; who was wishing he were someone – anyone! – else.

"Sakura," the blonde medic was kneeling next to the recently collapsed kunoichi. She placed a firm hand on a shaking shoulder and spoke very softly to the sobbing female, "even if you tried to teach him on your own, you'd have no time for yourself or any of your friends or family. You are at the prime stage of your career as a shinobi; you're young, determined, full of life, loyal, and strong. Do you really want to give all of that up?" The calming pinkette shook her head. "Let the teachers at the Academy do their job; let them teach Seiji all there is to know about being a Leaf ninja."

The medic was still reluctant. There were so many unknown variables in the problem: how quickly was Seiji going to advance as a ninja? She certainly did _not_ want to create a second Itachi. But putting him in the Academy meant trusting him to someone else; it meant giving up complete and total control. She wouldn't be able to oversee most of his training and therefore, could not control who or what he would become.

"Listen to me Sakura," Tsunade fingered the young woman's chin and forced her to look into her amber eyes, "we will figure everything out. You have me and your other friends to help you. You don't have to struggle on your own."

"But -"

"Let me correct myself," Tsunade interrupted what she was sure was a protest for help, "we _won't let you_ struggle on your own. No exceptions."

Knowing that there was no argument that could be made and too exhausted to argue anyway, Sakura nodded her head.

"Good. Now, as another matter," the Hokage kept a careful eye on the weary woman, watching for her reaction, and addressed both Sakura and Seiji, "Seiji, I think it would be best if you spent some time each week with Sasuke to learn more about the way of the Uchiha."

"Absolutely not!"

"Who is Sasuke?"

Tsunade prayed for patience as she took in both of the expected responses. She decided to answer Seiji's inquires first. Surely he would not be as frustrating or draining as Sakura was bound to be.

"Sasuke Uchiha is your father's younger brother; he's your uncle."

Seiji widened his eyes, "My oji-san?"

Tsunade nodded. "Did you know that you had an uncle?"

"Kaa-san mentioned something about him a few times but… I never believed that he was real. Kaa-san had always said that I was one of the last of the family…"

"You are. Sasuke is also one of the last." Tsunade braced herself as she asked her next question, "Would you like to meet him?"

Seiji's eyes shone with the thought of having family again but Sakura cried out in protest before he could nod his head.

"NO!! Shishou, Sasuke can't find out, he just _can't_!"

"Why not?" Sakura was surprised to hear a young male voice respond instead of a commanding female one. She was baffled speechless for a short moment as she switched her gaze from her Hokage to her newly adopted son. He still refused to meet her eyes. This made her lash out in unexpected anger.

"Because!" Sakura ground her hands into her eyes and tried to calm her self down; this was an ignorant child she was talking to, not Tsunade. Sakura took a deep breath and tried explaining again, this time in a calm voice, "Seiji, Sasuke didn't like your father very much."

Seiji thought over this new information, "Does he know that my tou-san is dead?"

"Yes."

"Does he know about me?"

"No."

"Shouldn't he though?"

"Seiji, I don't know what he'd do if he knew that you were an Uchiha."

"But we're the last of the family!" Seiji looked to Tsunade for support. "You said we were the last ones! I'm the only family he has!"

A deaf fool could have caught the true meaning in the little boy's words. _He's__ the only family __I__ have. _

A silence fell over the three. Sakura was fighting off tears for the hundredth time that day, Seiji was desperate to meet what little family he had left, and Tsunade could feel a large and painful headache setting in.

"Sakura," Tsunade disturbed the silence, "you're a complete wreak and you've kept Seiji's surname a secret no longer than a day. How do you expect to keep going on like this?"

Sakura sat still for another minute before she dragged herself to a far, empty corner and curtained her face with her hair before she mumbled, "Fine. Let them all in and tell them everything."

Tsunade shot up and proceeded to unseal the door; she was not willing to give Sakura time to rethink her last command. After quickly ushering the three now-impatient males inside her office, Tsunade once again locked and sealed the door, and cast the silencing jutsu again as an extra precaution. When she turned around she saw the three men throwing worried glances at Sakura's huddled body in the far corner of the room. When the Hokage caught their attention questions were fired right away.

"What's wrong with Sakura-chan?"

"Are we going to hear what's been going on?"

"Could you start at the beginning so I get the whole story?"

"I will answer all of your questions after you are all completely informed of the situation. Until then, you will all remain silent, understand?"

"Yes Hokage-sama."

"Good. Now listen up; it's a long story…"

* * *

**Author's Note**: And that's chapter three everybody! I know that, when you look back on it, nothing much happened in this chapter; this one was more like a window to see what was going through Sakura and Seiji's heads. The next one, I'm hoping, will give you more insight to Sasuke's thoughts. I hope you enjoyed this one guys!

* * *


	4. An Uchiha's Rage

**Author's Note: **Hello there! Glad to see that I've kept you interested so far; now if only I can keep it that way! ^-^ I'm hoping that you all enjoy this chapter. It's a bit longer than the others but it's got a sneak peek into what's going on in Seiji's and Sasuke's heads. Warning: this one also has a few more swear words than the other three (which probably goes without saying but I'm warning you all now just in case). A big thank you needs to go out to Twigs-N-Leaves, MyUsedRomance, rao hyuga 18, vegemaru, S.A. Hikari, minniemousemom, and nicole1422 () for reviewing chapter 3! Thanks so much for taking that bit of time to tell me what you think! And now, read on fellow SasuXSaku lovers!

**Disclaimer:** Puh-lease! You all know that I'm not Masashi Kishimoto! And since I am not, I do not own Naruto. Sadface.

**

* * *

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**Chapter Four: An Uchiha's Rage**

As the Hokage began her lengthy explanation, Seiji crawled over to his new mother's side. She was quietly crying. He snuck his way into her tight embrace and tried to comfort her even though he was unsure why she was so upset in the first place.

The young boy kept observant eyes on the three men that were listening to the blond lady, watching their facial expressions and hoping to learn why his new mom was crying. (He remembered his kaa-san teaching him that you could learn a lot about what a person was feeling from their faces.) He watched as the men's faces twisted and twitched into different shapes to convey different emotions throughout the story but found that he focused on the black-haired man's face more than he did the other two. For whatever reason, Seiji couldn't shake off the feeling of wanting this particular man to… approve of him.

The man suddenly locked his dark eyes on Seiji's small frame. Seiji couldn't help but shiver. He could feel strong distaste coming from the man's cold gaze. Seiji swallowed and shrunk back in fear before he was rescued. His mother had pulled him against her body and locked him there with her arms. This small act of protection earned her the privilege of receiving an icy glare from the dark-eyed man. Seiji watched his mom glare back with equal contempt and sighed in relief when the blond lady called the man's attention back to her story. The arms wound around him didn't loosen their grip on him and he was thankful for it when he saw the dark-eyed man glare back at him every so often. Seiji griped his mother's shirt with his small hands in confusion. Why did this man disapprove of him so much? What had he done that had been so horribly wrong?

Seiji shifted uncomfortably in his mother's lap as he noticed that all three men were suddenly staring at either him or his mother. The blond lady had stopped talking and no one dared to speak a word. At least the dark man wasn't looking at him; his cold, hard gaze was currently battling with his mother's fierce one. The young Uchiha could practically hear the two glares clash; they made the clanging sound of metal hitting metal and the room's tension built as each clang was heard. The two adults were engaged in an all-out war and neither was willing to lose.

Just when Seiji felt like he would suffocate from the numerous layers of tension that surrounded them, the dark man spoke; although, to Seiji, it sounded more like a snarling hiss.

"Do you realize who you're holding in your arms?"

Seiji had to stop himself from crying out in fear. The man's voice was even more terrifying than his eyes. His words were drenched in a burning poison and they stung the young boy as he realized that_ he_ was the intended target of those sharp words. But his mother, once again, came to his rescue and shot back at the man with her own weapons while she shielded Seiji by tightening her embrace and answered the man's question.

"I'm holding my son."

The man let out a strange kind of growl as he tore his gaze away from the pair in the corner, hiding his expression. While he paused a moment to control himself, Seiji found his eyes were drawn to a strange symbol sewn on the back of the man's shirt; a red and white kind of fan. Seiji wondered what it represented.

Suddenly the dark man hissed out, "Naruto, we're sparring" before he promptly left the room; shredding the seal and breaking the lock on his way out.

The man dressed in orange nodded and mumbled a "Right" before he began to follow the man out the door. Just before he passed through the doorway he turned around and gave Seiji a bright grin and said, "I'll see you 'round kid."

Seiji didn't get a chance to shyly wave in response before he left and the last man said something about 'making sure they didn't kill anyone' before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

After Kakashi left, Sakura stood up from her seat in the corner and (while keeping Seiji locked in her arms) began to converse with Tsunade about arranging a meeting that concerned all of Konoha's shinobi and introducing them to the young Uchiha. Seiji only half-listened to them plan and banter; he couldn't get his mind off of the dark man and the odd symbol he wore on his back.

* * *

A sound similar to the chirping of a thousand birds rang out in the middle of Training Ground 18. A large cloud of white smoke followed the beautiful sound wherever it went and caused many civilians on the streets to gawk at the strange sight as they wondered which ninja was destroying Konoha's forests and for what reason.

After his Chidori died, Sasuke whipped out his favored katana and started slashing at any of Naruto's clones that came too close. The real Naruto sat safely in a tree (out of his will to live to become Hokage) and was watching his best friend beat clone after clone. When the number of opponents dwindled Naruto would make the single hand sign and send out another army of copies. Easily growing bored of the monotonous routine the Kyuubi vessel began to drift into his thoughts. His aloft mind vaguely recalled Kakashi appearing to 'keep an eye on the two of them' and sending him away after promising that they'd use lower level moves. Naruto almost snickered; lower level moves his ass. Rasengan and Chidori may look to be deadly moves but both the Uchiha and the Uzumaki knew that they had riskier tricks up both their sleeves.

Naruto gave a jump when the Uchiha suddenly let out a very frustrated howl. Snapping his attention back to his friend Naruto widened his eyes in fear. Sasuke had completely lost it. His Sharingan eyes were practically glowing because of the insane amount of chakra that Sasuke was pushing to his eyes. Naruto didn't have to be a genius to realize that Sasuke was using an excessive, and quite unnecessary, amount of energy and chakra; he was wasting precious power and likely damaging his eyes in the process.

Naruto moved to stop him before he suffered severe or permanent damage to his eyes but froze as he noticed something else that was out of place; Sasuke's movements were wild, choppy, and desperate; they were executed without thought. It was the absolute opposite from the usual graceful, flowing, and calculated attacks that the Uchiha was always found using.

Naruto continued to observe the usually reserved jounin as he threw himself at clone after clone. Through the smoke that came from his doppelgangers Naruto made another stunning discovery; the Uchiha genius was aiming for vital spots. Naruto widened his eyes even further and gawked at his teammate. The two of them had agreed to always avoid hitting anything that could cause serious damage (as a small comfort to Sakura and Kakashi who always worried that they went too far in their 'friendly spars') but Sasuke was right there in front of him, clearly throwing the agreement out the window and going for the kill. Naruto gaped at the Uchiha; he couldn't possibly know if the Naruto he was targeting was real or not – not with those overwhelmed eyes – which meant… Sasuke currently didn't care if he killed Naruto or not.

'_Aw, shit.' _Naruto thought. The blond passed a hand through his spiked locks and huffed in irritation. How was he supposed to subdue a Sasuke that was on a major killing rampage?

A yelp of pain brought the blond out of his plotting mind and into the current battle between his one friend and his eighty-five –

"**Chidori Nagashi!!!**"

Okay, sixty-six clones.

In the next instant, Naruto caught a slight whiff of fresh blood and gave a small start. His clones couldn't bleed and he wasn't anywhere near anything that could injure him so… _Sasuke had to be wounded_.

Naruto hurriedly hunted his friend with his eyes and caught sight of a, rather deep, stab wound on Sasuke's left bicep. The Kyuubi vessel blinked a few times to let the image sink in. Sure, he had injured Sasuke before but he always had to do it with his own fists; Sasuke never let a mere shadow clone get close enough to scratch him. So how on earth…? The self-proclaimed Future Hokage nearly fell out of the tree when he realized what had happened; even though the former Avenger was lashing out for death, he was leaving a large part of his body open for an attack every time he lunged for a near-by clone.

'_Damn it teme, are you seriously__** that**__ screwed over by Seiji?!'_

Naruto took the Uchiha's next cry of pain as a yes.

'_Well, then. If that's how it's gonna be…'_

Naruto slapped his hands into his signature hand sign and yelled, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Nearly two hundred extra Naruto's appeared in the surrounding area. All of them turned to the original Uzumaki for instructions.

"Restrain Sasuke in any way possible!"

"**We're on it!!!**"

Quite soon after, Sasuke was pinned on his back to the ground by six different Narutos with his precious blade half way across the recently-torn-up training ground. Expectedly, the Uchiha struggled. The real Naruto leaped from his position in the tree and landed beside the struggling man's head.

"You really should calm down teme. Fighting in blind rage does not do you justice."

"You can fuck it Naruto."

"Hey! Watch your language you bastard!"

"I'm really **not** in the mood!"

"And you're really **not** thinking clearly! So calm down and shut off the chakra circulation to your eyes before you blind yourself!"

Sasuke seethed and snarled and fought to pry himself from the orange-clad idiots but quickly found the activity to be extremely exhausting. He remained tense for another moment before loosening his muscles and cutting off his chakra flow. A sharp pain entered his eyes and Sasuke had to shut them quickly to suppress any sign of pain. But soon he became aware of many other stinging areas; his left bicep, right side and lower back among the worst of them.

"Damn it…" he hissed through clenched teeth.

"That's what happens when you leave yourself open dumbass. What were you thinking, over-exerting your Sharingan like that?" The dobe asked a good question. Sasuke himself wasn't too sure when he had lost awareness of his chakra consumption.

"…I didn't mean to. It just happened."

Naruto snorted. "Bullshit. You just _happened_ to become infuriated enough to lose complete control? The fact that Itachi is Seiji's father has nothing to do with that?"

"It _doesn't_."

Naruto raised a brow and barely resisted the urge to spit in disbelief. "You're pants should be on fire; _that's_ how lame your lie was."

Sasuke opened his pained eyes to glare at the blatant Uzumaki but found that to be ineffective. He couldn't tell which of the seven Narutos was the original; not without the help of his Sharingan. He settled for staring at the blue sky and quietly said, "It's just that… that's not all of it."

All of the Narutos tilted their heads in a curious manner. Sasuke frowned and growled, "Can't you get rid of the damn clones? They're not necessary." The real Naruto shrugged, sent one clone to fetch Sakura for medical help, and let the other five vanish with a poof of smoke. Sasuke winced as he struggled into an upright position and wove his right hand through his sweat-drenched hair.

Neither one spoke a word.

* * *

"…the only difficulty with that would be making sure that every ninja was-"

"Sakura-chan!!!!" Tsunade gave a tired sigh as the familiar voice interrupted her discussion with Sakura. They were trying to organize a date for Seiji's introduction to the ninja of Konoha and the Hokage was sure that Naruto would _not_ be helpful in any of the planning. The two medics looked to the open doorway and watched an exhausted Naruto catch his breath as he leaned against the doorframe.

Deciding it would be best to hear him out as quickly as possible, an irritated Sakura asked, "What is it Naruto?"

"Sa-Sasuke needs… help. Sparring… got hurt… lo-lots of bl-blood."

Sakura's eyes widened in concern for her teammate. Sasuke was always well enough to see her himself but if he had sent Naruto to get her for him… and Naruto _did_ say that there was a lot of blood…

Sakura nodded as a confirmation to her thoughts. "Right," She turned around to face Tsunade and Naruto sighed in relief. He didn't want to leave Sasuke with those injuries any longer than he needed to. Sakura would have him patched up in no time. "Shishou, call Shizune to treat Sasuke-kun's injuries."

Naruto gave a strange gasping sound and began to protest while Tsunade called for her trusted secretary. "What?! But, Sakura-chan, you _always _heal Sasuke when he's hurt! You know that he doesn't like any other medic to help him! Just come with me, it'll take you two minutes!"

Without turning back to look at him she retorted, "I'm busy Naruto. Shishou and I are trying to organize a meeting about Seiji so neither of us is free to tend to Sasuke-kun. Shizune's as good a medic as I am; he'll be fine."

"Yeah, but if it's not you he'll get all moody and -"

"Naruto!" Tsunade cut off his whining with a sharp and commanding tone. "Right now, Seiji is our priority. Any medic can tend to Sasuke but I need Sakura here. Do you understand?"

Baffled and taken aback, Naruto looked to Sakura for support; she knew how picky their teammate was when it came to physical contact. But her back was still facing him.

She wasn't looking.

Naruto's shoulders fell. Why wasn't she fighting to leave and heal Sasuke? He knew the Uchiha meant a great deal to the kunoichi in front of him. But why didn't she want to leave? Without meaning to, the Uzumaki cast his gaze to the napping child in a corner of the office. Seiji Uchiha… or perhaps he had become Seiji Haruno? Naruto had a sinking feeling that it no longer mattered to his pink-haired friend.

* * *

Back at the ruined training grounds, the real Naruto was about to break the silence before he heard his own voice call out a short distance away from the two shinobi. Turning to face his clone he was surprised to see, not Sakura, but Shizune tailing right behind his copy.

"Shizune?" the real Naruto quirked his brow in question at his copy and asked, "Where's Sakura-chan?"

The clone averted his eyes as he answered, "You can find out if you want but I'm not saying anything."

Naruto grew concerned. If his clone didn't want to talk about it out loud something bad must have happened. Naruto had the clone vanish with a poof and nearly fell on his back from the onslaught of memories and scrambled emotions that suddenly plagued his mind. Once he sorted through the events that occurred at the Hokage Mansion, Naruto's face fell in distraught confusion.

'_Sakura-chan… what the hell was that about?' _

Naruto looked over to his friend and saw Shizune telling him that he was lucky that the wounds weren't deeper than they were. The Uzumaki mentally shook his head; Sasuke hated people tell him that he was lucky. No one could really blame him either, not with his tragic, blood-stained childhood. Even so, Naruto knew that somewhere in his odd, little mind, Sasuke did consider himself some-what lucky – lucky to still have his team, his replacement family, even after all the crap he had pulled in the past. Not that the Uchiha would _ever_ admit it.

Ten more minutes filled with annoying lectures later, the two teammates were alone in the clearing again. Sasuke had his eyes closed and was resting against a tree that had been lucky enough to suffer minor damage; Naruto was shifting in his seat on the ground in front of his friend, uncomfortable with the silence surrounding the clearing.

"So…" Not seeing a reaction from the black-haired man, Naruto clicked his tongue as he thought of what he could say. Recalling their previous conversation Naruto asked, "What'd ya mean?"

"When?" Naruto held back a growl. Typical of the jerk to reply with a single word. At least he was paying attention.

"You said that there was more to it than Itachi being Seiji's dad."

Sasuke gave a tired sigh. He had hoped that Naruto either disregarded or forgot his earlier comment. Apparently, the blond had opted for neither option. The only way to get him off his tail was to push him away.

"I don't do heart-to-hearts loser."

"Well duh," Sasuke heard the annoying blond move and opened one eye to see what he was doing. Naruto had opted to lean against a near-by tree with his arms folded behind his head. His bright cerulean eyes were drilling directly into Sasuke's face, keeping a steady visual of his friend. "But every sad bastard needs a heart-to-heart every now an then. You're overdue for yours."

"Che," Sasuke snapped his eye closed again and tried to ignore the man. "Don't bother doing me any favors."

"Don't bother resisting any favors. Do you really expect me to assume that you're happy in your small world that's full of nothing but crap?"

"Damn right I do." Sasuke smirked when he heard Naruto shout out indignantly; the dobe just made it _too_ easy.

"Seriously Sasuke," Naruto sighed and dropped all playfulness from his voice. He needed to pull whatever-it-was out of Sasuke and he wasn't going to get it by fooling around. Fight fire with fire and such. "What got you so angry out there?"

Sasuke frowned. He didn't want to talk about this. "Noth-"

"Don't waste my time teme! That's crap and we both know it."

"Itachi -"

"You said it was more than Itachi."

"I lied."

"Not about that you didn't."

"Would you back off?!"

"Would you give up?"

"I _mean_ it Naruto."

"You think I don't?"

"Hn."

"Which puts us back at square one; _why the hell are you so angry_?"

Sasuke remained silent, happier to mull things over in his own mind. He was angry for a lot of reasons, the most obvious being that Itachi had managed to live on in a child and that Sakura hadn't told him herself. But those, surprisingly, were little more than bitter annoyances. The thought that Sasuke was now an uncle was not as unsettling to the Uchiha as one might think. A part of Sasuke might even have been _glad_ that a small piece of his brother had found its way back into his life. And he could understand why the woman was so reluctant to let him know; he supposed that, if the roles were ever reversed, he would likely do the same. No, those things did not enrage him to the point of fighting blindly.

One of the largest parts of the problem was that Sasuke Uchiha was tired of always being overshadowed by Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi had always been in the spotlight because of his exceptional talent as a ninja. He had been recognized by all of Konoha and rewarded for his natural gifts with titles and ranks leaving very high expectations for his little brother. Only, the young brother failed to show as impressive a display of talent so early in his life and was soon pushed aside in the minds of many, Fugaku Uchiha among them. Even after Itachi slaughtered the clan, Sasuke still didn't have anyone's complete attention. People knew of his tragic past but they always talked about the tragedy of such raw talent and genius turned bitter and evil. Even as a criminal, Itachi managed to best Sasuke.

When Sasuke abandoned the Leaf village he was the topic of conversation for a brief time period but soon he was forgotten from the minds of Konoha's citizens and ninja alike. He had only left the village after all, and that was much less dramatic than mass murder.

And then he had defeated his brother. He had finally grown strong enough to surpass Itachi and claim the spotlight as his own; he was, after all, the only Uchiha left in the world; the only survivor of a proud and noble clan that possessed powers beyond most imaginations. He had been listed in the Bingo Book and became a jounin (soon-to-be-ANBU) for Konoha. For a few years at least, he was free from Itachi's shadow.

And then Team 7 found Seiji who was sure to be the center of everyone's attention once word got out about the boy's father. As soon as Itachi's name would be mentioned, his entire life story would come into discussion and the elder Uchiha would, once again, command attention. The drama of it all would have the civilians gossiping for years. Sasuke almost laughed at the insanity of it; his brother had beaten him as a ninja, as a criminal and now, he was about to beat him in death.

But even _that_ was not the most upsetting factor. No, the primary cause of his anger was because of a certain pink-haired medical kunoichi. Throughout all of his life, Sasuke had only completely been acknowledged by a handful of people: his mother, his brother, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura. They had always looked at him before Itachi, had always placed him as a first priority, and he could safely admit that they were/had been precious people to him. And now he was losing one of them.

It was clear to him that Sakura had grown a strong attachment to his nephew; her performance in Tsunade's office proved that much. Even so, he had expected her to break away from the brat for the two minutes it would have taken her to heal him. Or maybe she'd be so bold as to bring him with her but he definitely had **not** expected her to ignore him completely. She had sent Shizune in her place even though she knew about his picky standards when it came to medics. Apparently it hadn't – _he_ hadn't - mattered to her; at least not enough to leave her precious _son _and that, above all else, was what stung him the most.

In his fight with Naruto's clones, Sakura's words had kept playing over and over in his mind.

"_I'm holding my son."_

He was hurt more and more each time her voice repeated that painful statement and, without realizing it, he had transformed the hurt into an uncontrollable wrath and lashed out recklessly at the closest object; Naruto's shadow clones. Ultimately, the rash attacks did not help the Uchiha any. The clones never seemed to decrease in number and he soon began to think of them as Itachi; surrounding him on all sides, over-whelming, always pushing him, always testing him, _never dying_. This shift in view had added desperation to Sasuke's concoction of emotions and resulted in the spike of his chakra flow and his aiming for vital spots on the doppelgangers.

Sasuke was brought out of his thoughts at the tapping sound of an impatient foot. The dark-haired man opened his eyes to glance at the hyperactive ninja across from him. Said ninja had changed his position so that he was now standing but still leaning against the tree he had claimed earlier. The blond noticed that he had the Uchiha's attention and shot him a questioning look.

"Well?" he asked, "Feel like saying it out loud now?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted and faced away from his teammate. "You'd wish."

Naruto sighed and pushed off from his tree. "Whatever. Can I at least trust that you figured out what the hell is going on in your damn mind?"

"... Yeah, you can."

"Good. Now then," Naruto walked the few steps over to Sasuke's relaxed form, ready to drag him towards their next destination. "Let's head to Ichiraku's! You've been battling with your emotions for at least -"

"Thank you Naruto."

The gratifying sentence made the Kyuubi vessel pause in his tracks. The fact that Sasuke slapped a hand to his forehead and repeatedly muttered 'crap' under his breath made it appear as though the Uchiha survivor had not meant to say anything to the blond, let alone an expression of thanks.

"Did you just thank me??" Naruto let the idea sink in before he extended his hand toward his friend. Not hearing any sort of denial, the blond grinned and said, "Oh, _damn_ Sasuke. You are officially and completely -"

"Fucked up."

The blond blinked. He hadn't expected to be interrupted but he would go along with it, "Well, yes." Naruto tightened his hold on the rough hand that grasped his and pulled his best friend upwards as he continued, "I was originally going for 'insane' but yours works too."

Steadying himself in his new upright position, Sasuke muttered, "Shut up dobe."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Whoo-hoo! So now you all know a little bit about what's running through Sasuke's head! Any of you find it interesting at all? Maybe a little bit? Or maybe you thought I was off and should have had Sasuke think differently about the situation? Please feel free to tell me via reviewing! ^-^ See you at chapter 5!


	5. Conniving Little Fox

**Author's Note:** I was so glad to hear all the positive feedback from you guys! I got a good number of people tell me that this was their fav chapter so far! (Secretly, #4 was my fav to write so far too!) So, the normal thank yous for reviewing go to Twigs-N-Leaves, MyUsedRomance, rao hyuga 18, vegemaru, minniemousemom, S.A. Hikari, and ISNAS! Your reviews always brighten my day! =D Here's hoping that you guys enjoy this chapter as much as the last one! Um... no warnings for this one. Except for a bit more of tiresome Sakura; I know, I know. She's getting to be _really _annoying being all defiant and stubborn and crying and stuff. Trust me, she'll change eventually!

**

* * *

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**Chapter Five: Conniving Little Fox**

"Y'know, Sakura-chan, it's already been three days."

"I know Naruto."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Have you and Sasuke talked it out yet?"

A heavy sigh answered the man's question.

Naruto groaned and raised a hand to his head. He and Sakura were currently sitting side-by-side on a small, grassy hill that was hidden from view because of the very tall and very old trees that surrounded it. She and Seiji had found the secretive clearing while they were exploring Konoha's forests and the young Uchiha boy had wanted to share his special find with someone. So, the next day, when Naruto had come knocking on her apartment door 'wanting to talk to her about something important' she attempted to distract him with the small adventure. It had seemed to work on the way there but as soon as they had settled down and sent Seiji off with a Scavenger Hunting List, Naruto tried to talk to her again.

In all honesty, he had tried to get her alone on many occasions since the events that passed in Tsunade's office. The old Team 7 had not met up for training since then and both Sasuke and Sakura declined any invitations to eat out or get together. It was obvious to Naruto that his two teammates were avoiding each other and he was not happy about it.

Raising his head to try again Naruto mumbled, "I just don't get it Sakura-chan; why won't you let Sasuke help you raise him?"

They had been eating at Ichiraku's three days ago when Sasuke had been summoned to the Hokage's office and Naruto had tagged along with his friend; he didn't want the older Uchiha to explode at any news that Tsunade threw at them. Unfortunately, when Tsunade told them that she expected Sasuke to help raise Seiji or at least see him at least once every week to teach him about his family, both men were too stunned to do anything but stare incredulously at the Fifth. They had asked if she was serious. Tsunade muttered something like, 'Is that the only question Team 7 has?' and proceeded to say that she was dead serious. Then Sasuke had asked what Sakura - who had left only minutes previous to get Seiji settled in her home - thought about the ordeal. Tsunade confided that Sakura was displeased with the offer but would not protest if people thought that it was what was best for her new son. Sasuke flat out refused and strode out of the office without offering explanation. Naruto had run after him but couldn't find the raven haired Uchiha anywhere; and if Sasuke didn't want to be found, Naruto knew that he would not find him. So, Naruto had aimed at the opposite end of the stick and tried to talk to Sakura who, at the moment, was not co-operating very well.

While Naruto reminded himself of the eventful days before, Sakura took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She wouldn't let her sadness and her frustration show; she wouldn't let Naruto see how much she was affected by the older Uchiha's cold shoulder. Since he had returned, she had made a strong effort to see him for at least a few minutes each day; just to make up for lost time. Not seeing him at all for three whole days gave her a lot of extra time. Fortunately she had Seiji to distract her for most of it. But the boy couldn't occupy her time after he fell asleep at his regular early hour. It was then, in the early evening before she would fall asleep, that she really felt how much a part of her was Team 7. Not including her three favorite men in her daily schedule had thrown her off of her inner balance; it was as if she was trying to be someone else; someone other than Sakura Haruno. She wasn't sure that she was comfortable with the change either.

"He wouldn't make a big deal out of it or anything; and y'know, I don't think he'd bethat bad with a kid. It'd be like him training a team of genin! Except it'd be a one-on-one session, kinda-thing."

"Naruto," fought an exasperated woman, "I think he made it pretty obvious that he doesn't want anything to do with Seiji. You saw him in Shishou's office."

"But he's not really mad at you Sakura-chan! Or Seiji! If you'd just _talk_ to him -"

"What more is there to say Naruto? Seiji is my responsibility now and I… I _want_ to take care of him, I really do. He's such a great kid and he needs a mother."

"He could use a father too. And who better than the man who happens to _be his uncle?!?_"

"Naruto I've _already_ said -"

"And I'm saying _now_, that the teme _would_ help you if you got up _off your ass_ and asked him!" Sakura was nearly appalled. Naruto had never used such blatant language against her.

"I don't need his help!"

"Like hell you don't! Sakura-chan, you don't know the first thing about being an Uchiha!"

"His family name -"

"_Makes a difference!!" _Naruto knew he was yelling but he couldn't help himself. She. Was not. Listening._ "_It makes _all_ the difference Sakura-chan, you _know_ that!! Look at Sasuke; look at Itachi!! Sakura-chan, being an Uchiha means being gifted, special, in a way that no one else is; it means being different!! That kid," Naruto gestured towards the trees where Seiji had disappeared minutes before, "is no exception. Seiji is a _special_ kind of special; he's Seiji **Uchiha**!! He's going to need the proper training if he's hoping to reach the full extent of his power and you can't give him that, only Sasuke can!!"

Sakura fell silent and looked at her feet. Naruto had never yelled at her like that before; hearing it now, made her feel like a child being told that she had been in the wrong.

Naruto breathed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He hadn't really meant to lose his temper. He stole a glance at his friend; she had her head down. He immediately felt guilty; he had never been seriously fed up with her before and knew that she must be feeling pretty down.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded. "It's okay Naruto."

"I'm _really_ sorry. I swear, I didn't mean to yell."

Sakura nodded again. She almost looked like a pre-programmed robot. "I know."

"Sakura-chan I -"

"Y'know, it's getting late. I should find Seiji and bring him home for dinner." Sakura stood up but kept her face hidden. She wouldn't allow Naruto to see the tears that silently ran down her cheeks. She didn't want to worry him further. Making her way down the hill towards the chakra signature that she had come to recognize, she called back to her friend, "I'll see you later Naruto!"

A saddened Naruto looked to the sky after the kunoichi flew into the trees. What had he done wrong? Tch, he had yelled at her that's what. He didn't need to be a genius to know that. And even though he was truly sorry that she had become so upset over it, he was not sorry that he had said it. Hell, she needed to hear it from _someone._

"… Yeah… Later…" he whispered to himself, hoping that it wouldn't be too much later when he saw his friend again.

* * *

A put out Sakura paused in her pursuit of son and took a moment to calm herself. Using deep breathing techniques she mulled over the recent events in her mind. She knew that her departure from her friend had been wrong and perhaps a little harsh. Yes, she had felt beaten upon by him but he wasn't deserving of her gross behavior. He probably hadn't even been aware of what he was saying to her. Sakura nodded to herself. That had to be it. Naruto couldn't have realized that what he was saying sounded like he was taking Sasuke's side over hers; that she had felt ganged up on; that she thought he felt that she was making mistakes, just like when they were genin. Naruto had never been aware of much; she couldn't expect him to be conscious of her complex emotions. Sakura nodded again just to reassure herself that _that _was why he said those things and yelled at her. It couldn't have been because he _did_ think that she was in the wrong. Taking one last deep breath Sakura took to the trees again, continuing her search for Seiji.

But instead of the relief she expected to feel from sorting out Naruto's motives, she felt guilt; for thinking that he ever thought those things about her, for leaving the way she did, but mostly guilt for never even taking any of his words into consideration.

* * *

"Y'know teme, three days is a while."

"It's not really."

"But you're teammates!"

"…Not anymore."

"…"

"…"

"… WHAT?!?!?"

"Sakura has… different priorities now."

Naruto couldn't believe he was hearing this. Having Sakura shoo him off without even really listening was bad enough; did Sasuke absolutely have to do the same thing?! And on the same frickin day?! Kami-sama had to be playing some sort of cruel joke.

Shortly after abandoning Seiji's hidden hill, Naruto had wandered aimlessly around Konoha. Spotting Sasuke inconspicuously purchasing tomatoes in a remote part of the market place, Naruto ran over and asked to talk to his best friend in private. Sasuke had agreed albeit reluctantly and now the two could be found leaning on the railings of a familiar bridge. Team 7 used to meet there a lot; just visiting the old bridge brought back so many memories. Naruto had hoped to add to those memories by convincing the Uchiha to break the newly formed ice between him and Sakura. The blond was _not_ having fun being the monkey in the middle. Unfortunately, Sasuke was proving to be just as difficult and stubborn as Sakura.

"Different _priorities_? _That's_ your excuse for not seeing or talking to her?!"

"Sakura doesn't _want_ me to see or talk to her."

"… WHAT?!?! What gave you _that _idea?!?"

"The fact that she didn't inform me about Itachi's blood connection to Seiji tells me that she doesn't want me involved."

"That's utter crap Sasuke! Sakura-chan doesn't know _what_ she wants and she definitely doesn't know how to deal with a kid! She needs help, whether she's willing to admit it or not!"

"Then why don't _you_ help her dobe?"

"Because the kid is an _U. Chi. Ha_."

"Hn, as if that makes a difference."

"… WHAT?!?! It makes _all _the difference Sasuke! You know that better than _anyone_!"

Sasuke sighed. He knew it was a weak argument because Naruto was right. Being an Uchiha made a world of difference. But Sakura didn't see that nor did she wish to; just like she didn't want his help. And as long as she didn't want his help, he was not willing to waste time and effort to offer it.

"You know what, forget Sakura-chan for a minute; Seiji will need you as much as she does, if not more! The kid knows nothing about Itachi or you or what it means to be an Uchiha; hell, he doesn't know what being a _ninja_ means! He's bound to have questions and they can only be answered by you! Are you okay with just leaving your nephew in the dark? Are you okay doing _exactly_ what Sakura-chan did to you?"

Naruto knew he had struck a nerve as he watched his friend's muscles stiffen; that small reaction in itself was enough of an answer to the Uzumaki. Sasuke was most definitely _not_ okay with repeating Sakura's actions. Maybe that was the way to get the Uchiha to crack.

"He's only five Sasuke, and he's already alone in the world; he's desperate for a sense of family, _just like you were_. You were lucky enough to find a new family in Team 7 but he won't have a team for years. And as much as Sakura-chan's trying, I can tell that Seiji doesn't really feel a family connection with her."

Sasuke stared blankly at the flowing water throughout Naruto's monologue. A lot of what he said made sense but… Sasuke just… couldn't. Couldn't what? Sasuke honestly didn't know.

Knowing that he was getting through to the Uchiha, Naruto resumed talking, now sharing what he had learned from Sakura just an hour earlier as they had walked through the Konoha's forests.

"Did you know he only ever calls her mom but never kaa-san? Apparently, he saves that title for Koyuna, y'know, his real mom. And he never uses dad or father when he talks about Itachi; it's always tou-san. An interesting thing though," Naruto kept a careful eye on the dark eyed man beside him. He wanted to see his reaction to his next statement, "he knows he has an uncle, an oji-san, but he doesn't know it's you."

Sasuke mentally scoffed; it was only another thing that _Sakura_ had thought best to keep from the Uchihas.

'_Could she be any more annoying?' _thought the man before he switched his gaze from the water to the loud-mouthed man. The onyx eyes that drilled into azure orbs were analytic and penetrating, almost as if they were trying to see through a magic trick.

"He really wants to meet you."

"He's already met me."

"That doesn't count! He didn't know that you guys were family then!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Yeah, I really made an impression on him."

"I don't think he'd mind all that much. I already told you teme, he's _desperate_. He'd accept you, bad first impression or not!"

"… Maybe…"

"There's no maybe about it! Sasuke if you only just _talked_ to him for, like, two seconds then you'd see -"

"I'll think about it."

Naruto froze and stared at his best friend. The man was staring towards the flow of the river, his eyes declaring that he was deep in thought. The hyperactive ninja gave a mental sigh of relief. At least he had gotten through to one of his teammates. Sort of. Any fool knew that getting Sasuke to 'think about something' was a difficult feat but convincing the Uchiha to do anything that was not originally his plan was a level beyond impossible.

Of course, Naruto Uzumaki had always held a special talent in making the impossible, possible.

* * *

Alone in his manor, Sasuke Uchiha felt free to collapse on his living room couch. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes in a weak attempt to sooth the throbbing pain behind them. His brain had been running over so much in the last hour and it refused to take a break even when the pain first started. He couldn't stop thinking about what Naruto had said to him about Seiji. About the kid being the same way he, himself had been so many years ago. And as much as Sasuke hated to admit it; Naruto had hit a spot in the Uchiha that he could not ignore. Sasuke hated the increasing feeling of guilt that ran through his system as if it were a poison; he_ knew_ that Naruto knew that saying those things would get through to him. And, damn it all, it _was_ getting through to him.

'_But,' _Sasuke sat up straight as he reminded himself, _'I've already refused to offer any help to Sakura in raising Seiji.'_

Sasuke nodded to himself. That was a perfectly reasonable excuse to stay far away from Sakura and her brat. Uchihas did not change their minds once they had made a decision and Sasuke would not break that chain. Although… The thought was rather tempting.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Sasuke fell back on the couch; he was just running around in circles and getting nowhere.

He blamed the hyperactive knucklehead that was his best friend.

* * *

The next morning, as he was leaving the house to start his daily training, Sasuke found a note posted to his front door:

_Teme,_

_Just thought you'd like know that Sakura-chan's given me Seiji to look after today while she catches up on work at the hospital. I'll be taking him to our old training ground after lunch. We'll wait for you there._

_The Future Hokage!_

_Naruto_

Quickly burning the note, Sasuke weighed the pros and cons of going to meet them. He had stayed up all the previous night tossing and turning ideas and possibilities through his head about what he could do about Seiji. He had already come to the conclusion that ignoring his nephew was not an option. Despite being deeply troubled about it, Sasuke did not have it in him to abandon the last of his family; no matter who or what his father may have been. Naruto's words had struck hard and deep; there was no use in trying to shake them out of his head.

But he would also not go back on his word; his Uchiha pride held him back from offering his kunoichi teammate any sense of support or companionship on this matter. His betraying mind however, quickly found a loophole in his promise. He had refused to help Sakura in raising her new son. Was privately and secretly meeting and training his nephew the same as watching him grow? One could easily argue yes but one could just as easily argue no. It was a question that had all the answers and, at the same time, held no answers at all.

The troubled twenty-year old was still thinking about what to do as he walked off in the direction of his team's old training grounds. He supposed, for the moment, that he could at least watch over his nephew from the sidelines and keep the dobe in line with his teachings.

And so, even after a full day of watching his best friend amuse his nephew with tricks and transformations, the young man was still undecided.

* * *

The following day a similar note was posted on the Uchiha's door. And the day after that. And even the day after that.

On the fifth day, Sasuke was surprised to learn that he had spent over half a week watching over his nephew instead of practicing his usual routine of training day and night. He was even more surprised to learn that he did not mind taking time out of his day to watch the young Uchiha gawk in awe at the elementary tricks that Naruto entertained him with; perhaps if you caught him in the right mood, he might even say that he _enjoyed _the simplicity that now overtook his afternoons. Sasuke found that it was refreshing, calming, and relaxing to lie back and watch an innocent child play in the sunshine of the day.

Currently, Naruto had abandoned the ninja tricks and was playing a simple game of tag with Seiji. It would seem that the Uzumaki took great pleasure in letting the young boy get close to slapping his back and then suddenly jumping far out of his reach. The child would always laugh and yell about the unfairness of it all but would soon be back to attempting to catch the whiskered man. While watching the action, Sasuke made a strange and foreign expression. It was almost like a mix of a smile, a smirk, a frown, and a grimace. He remembered, a time long ago, when he once used to smile and run after Itachi in a very similar manner. He never had caught Itachi back then…

A loud 'Got cha!!' broke Sasuke out of his reverie and dragged his attention to the two in the clearing below his selected tree branch. Naruto was on the ground with a triumphant Seiji seated on his back. Sasuke had to smirk; it was only expected for an Uchiha to attain their target. Even during the bit of the game that he had watched, Sasuke noticed that Seiji was showing small signs of an Uchiha's quick reflexes and strategic planning; the boy had never leapt for Naruto at random and was able to make sharp turns when Naruto decided to change direction. His moves were calculated, controlled and it filled Sasuke with a small sense of pride. His nephew was a chip off the old Uchiha block.

"Naruto-san?" inquired the little boy.

Doing his best to face Seiji while flat on his stomach, Naruto replied, "What's up Seige?"

"Do you know my oji-san?"

"Huh? Your uncle?"

"Yeah. Are you friends with him?"

Naruto threw the curious child a large grin. "Sure am! Even if the stupid jerk won't admit it…"

Seiji decided not to ask what a 'stupid jerk' was and instead, continued with his questionnaire. "So… Where is he? Right now I mean."

"Huh?" Naruto pushed off the ground into a sitting position, careful not to throw Seiji off too harshly, and faced the kid properly. "Where's this coming from?"

Seiji started nervously playing with his dark bangs. Out in the bright sunlight, one could see that his near-black hair shone a shade of dark violet; it made Sasuke wonder if Koyuna's hair had been purple before it was burned to ash in the fire.

"It's only that…" He couldn't tell from his angle but Sasuke was sure that Seiji was darting his eyes around and trying to stall for time. He remembered acting out a similar action whenever he was extremely nervous about asking his father or brother for something.

Finally collecting enough courage to meet Naruto eye-to-eye, Seiji looked up with pained eyes and quietly asked, "Why hasn't he come to see me? Doesn't he want to meet me?"

Naruto gave a small breath of soft laughter. He found it slightly ironic that the very man that Seiji was so desperate to meet was, in fact, perched in a tree not fifteen feet away; watching, observing, calculating, relaxing. But Naruto would not drag Sasuke out to meet Seiji by force. The boy needed a good uncle and Sasuke could become that for him but only if the man got up and met Seiji on his own. And Naruto's instincts told him that Sasuke would meet Seiji by his own will… someday. Naruto had no idea when that day would be though, and looking down at the crest-fallen little boy in front of him Naruto was saddened that all he could do was wait and comfort.

"Don't worry little Seige," Naruto reached out and ruffled Seiji's hair with a small grin on his face. "Your uncle's not as far as you think. He'll come to see you sometime or another."

"You promise?"

"Sure do!"

Seiji put on a smile but dropped it as a new thought entered his young mind, one that had never crossed his thoughts before.

"Naruto-san, what if my oji-san doesn't like me?"

Naruto leaned back on his hands and pretended to gaze at the sky while really locking his eyes with Sasuke's. They stared at each other for a long moment before Sasuke gave a small nod, granting Naruto the right to speak freely. Naruto let out an encouraging smile.

"Trust me Seiji, your uncle's gonna love ya."

* * *

**End of Part One**

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**Author's Note:** Yay for fluffiness of a good game of tag between a grown man and a young boy!! ^-^ Anywho, as you all can see, this is the end of the section titled: The Finding of the Child. Why does it end now? Well, cuz hey, they found 'im. Ha ha! Sorry for that! Actually, this part was the whole setting up of the story; introducing Seiji, the conflict between Sasuke and Sakura, and both of their noticeable attractions towards Seiji Uchiha. Anyway, Chapter Six will start Part 2/3 in the series. It will be called: The Training of the Child and will take place 3 years after the end of this chapter. Keep an eye out for it!


	6. Three Years Past

**Author's Note: **So thanks go to Twigs-N-Leaves, MyUsedRomance, xXxtellmewhyxXx, rao hyuga 18, vegemaru, S.A. Hikari, minniemousemom, ISNAS, and sonia for reviewing the last chapter! Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement! You know how every author askes you to review because it makes them feel so happy? Well, they tell you that because IT'S TRUE!! Anyway, in this part, Sasuke and Sakura are 23, Naruto is 22 (this chapter happens in late summer), Seiji is 8 and a new character is introduced! There is a long AN at the end and I really, really, _really _want you guys to read that one! You can ignore all the future AN's that I post if you the one at the end of this chapter!

**Disclaimer:** Geez, I can't believe that I forgot to put this in Chapter 5! This better not become a habit... Anyway, DNON (do not own Naruto)!!

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**Part Two: The Training of the Child**

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**Chapter Six: Three Years Past…**

Dull swooshes and heavy breathing filled the small, secret clearing. A young boy of eight – having jumped to execute his attack - landed smoothly on the ground, wiped his brow in an attempt to brush away the slight exhaustion and turned to look at the dark man that stood off to the side. The man had his gaze concentrated on the target dummy that had become victim to the boy's trusted kunai. The dummy had a number of kunai protruding from eight points: the larynx, liver, lungs, jugular, heart, kidneys, collar bone and even the spine on its back – lethal points that promised a quick and silent death. A minute passed as the man continued to examine the dummy and the boy anxiously awaited his uncle's approval; he had worked _so hard_ to perfect that technique that had been shown to him only two weeks ago. The man, satisfied with his examination, turned to face his nephew with a blank face; he inwardly smirked as he observed the boy straighten his posture. The boy so wanted his praise, it was almost comical.

"Impressive Seiji." The man let a proud smirk take over his features. He himself straightened his posture as he felt his being swell with pride. Seiji Uchiha was most definitely Itachi's son. "You have progressed beyond my expectations."

Seiji's expression lit up immediately; he had not yet perfected the stotic manner that came with being an Uchiha. It made Sasuke glad that the boy was still very much a child, unlike himself who had been deprived of such a rich and pure childhood.

Seiji laughed and threw his arms up in the air yelling, "Yes!!" before allowing gravity to pull him to the ground. While a little winded from his impact with the stiff earth, a smile graced his features. He knew his oji-san would be pleased with his improvement - he always was - but that did not mean that he was unafraid of breaking that record. Seiji gazed up at the passing clouds and drifted off into his own memories.

He had first been introduced to his uncle about three months after Naruto's promise of his uncle loving him. Sakura, with the demand of her presence at the hospital, had arranged that Naruto would look after her son the second and fourth weekend of each month so that she could put forth all of her effort to her job as a medic. Each weekend he spent with Seiji, Naruto would bring him to lunch at Ichiraku's, head off to Team 7's old training ground and teach him about ninja techniques and what it meant to be a loyal ninja of Konoha; all the while keeping an eye on Sasuke Uchiha as he hid in the trees, watching for any sign that might mean he was ready to make his presence known to Seiji. Sasuke had never made any contact of any sort but Naruto didn't give up hope since the elder Uchiha continued to appear each afternoon. The boy was fascinated by the Uzumaki's lessons and quickly grew to look forward to their weekends together; he even labeled Naruto as a nii-san, a brother, now.

One weekend, on a Sunday afternoon, Naruto had been telling Seiji – upon the boy's insistent request - about the Uchiha clan's fire techniques. Seeing a huge window of opportunity, Naruto purposely spewed off nonsense about the signature Uchiha technique: the Grand Fireball. Half way through his entertaining, but completely abusive, explanation a deep voice from above had said, "That is crap and you know it dobe." That day, Seiji had been formally introduced to the dark man and learned that Sasuke Uchiha was indeed the very uncle he had been longing to meet. Seiji had taken an immediate liking to the man despite his previous display in the Hokage's office over three months ago. Sasuke had not been as quick to warm up to the kid despite growing a small sense of pride during his past months of observation. Regardless, it did not take long for Sasuke to grow slightly affectionate towards his nephew. Since their first official meeting, Naruto would escort Seiji to the clearing, exchange insults and comments with Sasuke, and then leave the Uchihas to bond. Soon, the small family had moved on from bonding and learning about each other to basic ninja training. Seiji was a very fast learner and by the time he had entered the Academy two years later, he was so far advanced that they had him moved up a year or two. To say the least, Sakura had been surprised when Iruka had suggested the idea to her but acted on none of her suspicious thoughts; Seiji was, after all, Itachi's son.

Seeing his uncle come into his skyward view Seiji quickly scrambled up into a sitting position and brought his mind out of the past. Presently, he had a very important question to ask his only blood relative.

"Oji-san, could I ask a question?"

A raised brow graced Sasuke's features. He could easily guess which question Seiji was so desperate to ask. He did, after all, ask the same one every time he mastered a new technique. "It's about your father."

"Yes." Seiji took a moment to breathe. He always did this before popping his question as if mentally preparing himself to hear whatever the answer was. When he felt ready he met his uncle's sharp eyes and asked, "How long did it take him to master this technique?"

Sasuke let loose a quiet sigh, memories of his brother temporarily flooding his mind. The fact that his nephew had asked this question yet again should not have been a surprise to him and it still filled his head with nostalgic memories. Memories of childish arguments, family events, brotherly admiration, private training sessions in the dead of night… So many times that he treasured and deeply missed. Sasuke put up his guard immediately; he was getting too emotional and was in front of his nephew who was still awaiting an answer. The elder Uchiha quickly recalled the memory that contained the information he needed and pushed the others aside.

"Itachi mastered this attack within eight days."

As expected, a small exhale escaped the disappointed boy's mouth. Seiji himself had taken seven days to just _grasp_ the entire concept of the attack and learn how exactly to angle the kunai in order to hit the intended target and another seven to polish the routine and execute it perfectly. A total of fourteen days compared to his father's eight. Seiji mentally scoffed. He was the son of Itachi Uchiha but he had yet to surpass his father in any manner. No matter how impressive he was, how quickly he learned, how swiftly he advanced, his father was still ahead.

Unable to contain himself, Seiji began to tug at the grass around him and grumbled, "Of course he did."

Sasuke pushed back the slight pang of an oncoming headache and very nearly slapped his hand to his forehead in annoyance. Each and every time, Seiji would ask the same question and each and every time, Sasuke would give the same answer and each and every time, Seiji was upset with the answer and each and every time, Sasuke would have to give him a slight pep talk to bring him out of his mood. The only problem was that Sasuke was not really a 'pep' kind of person. He could manage it in small amounts if people really needed to hear something from him but giving one to his… _annoying_ little nephew each and every second weekend was becoming exhausting.

Figuring he might as well get a move on with the unavoidable, Sasuke moved to sit beside his nephew and gave him a nudge. "There's nothing to be disgruntled about. You've done well."

Seiji snorted and blew at an imaginary hair that flew in his face. Doing 'well' was all fine and good but he wanted to be _more_ than just well. He wanted to be a prodigy; he wanted to be his father. Why was that such an absurd and impossible dream? "Not as well as him; it took me fourteen days to master that technique – _fourteen! _He only needed eight."

"Your advancement is still impressive. Many ninja master that technique after four months of rigorous training. You managed it in two weeks."

"Yeah well, what does that matter? Many ninja aren't Uchiha."

Sasuke had nothing to say to that. It was true after all; many ninja were not Uchiha and because of that fact, Seiji felt that he could not be compared with them. He only had his family to use as an accurate measurement of his skills and he was constantly disappointed that he failed to match the performance that his father had given. Sasuke remembered feeling very similar; he too, could never catch up with Itachi.

Sasuke patiently waited for Seiji to ask his other question that was always guaranteed to come up in their conversations. It only took another minute of silence before Seiji opened his mouth.

"How long did it take you?"

Sasuke faced his nephew to meet black eyes that were so similar to his own. "Twenty six days." Seiji's eyes widened in disbelief, just like they almost always did. Seiji almost always beat Sasuke when it came to learning various attacks. The odd time when he didn't, would almost kill Sasuke; Seiji was nearly impossible to pep up in those situations.

Sometimes, when their eyes would meet, Sasuke would be taken by surprise. Despite all the time that he had spent with the last of his family, he could never get over the expectation of meeting bright red eyes and the slight shock of realizing that they remained black as coal. Seiji, while at the age of eight, had yet to show any signs of inheriting the Sharingan. Sasuke had originally thought it impossible for him to _not_ have received the gene for the signature Uchiha bloodline but as the years passed, the possibility that he did not possess it rose and it almost… _disappointed _Sasuke to think that he was still the only true Uchiha left. Although… Sasuke himself had been twelve when the Sharingan made its first appearance. Memories of a masked boy and a cage of mirrors and a near-death experience began to seep into his mind's eye but Sasuke quickly shut them out.

"Really?"

Quickly calculating in his head, Seiji was stunned to learn that it had taken his uncle more than three times as long as his tou-san to master the kunai barrage and almost twice as long as it had taken himself. Seiji was always surprised speechless when he discovered he had bested his own uncle's records. He always imagined his uncle to be one of the top ninjas in the continent – being his father's brother and all. He had also heard numerous stories from loud, gossiping civilians and ninja alike; the ANBU Captain Sasuke Uchiha was as powerful as they came and was greatly feared in many nations by countless shinobi.

"Really."

"So," a large smile crept its way onto Seiji's face. "I beat you again didn't I?"

A hand moved to lightly ruffle the boy's violet hair and a voice said, "You can tell me that when you become the captain of your own ANBU squad and not before."

Seiji laughed as he tried to twist his head out of his uncle's reach. It could have been a trick of the wind but the boy was almost sure that he heard a deep chuckle join him in the merriment of the moment. Unfortunately, an ear-splitting voice rang out in the next instant, preventing Seiji from confirming if he had heard correctly or not.

"I never expected you to be so playful teme!" The Uchihas did not have to look hard to find their favorite orange-clad, ramen-loving ninja jumping down from the treetops. Sasuke rolled his eyes; you would have thought that becoming an ANBU Captain himself, Naruto would have matured some and taken a bit of a break from his hyper activity. You would have thought. And you would have thought wrong.

"Naruto nii-san!" Sasuke's nephew made quick work of escaping from his seat and tackling the blond haired moron in a bone crushing hug. Naruto laughed out loud and returned the suffocating embrace.

"How's my favorite little brother?"

"He's awesome and gonna become a top shinobi just like you and oji-san! Here," breaking away from Naruto, Seiji grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the dummy, "look at what I did!"

Naruto put on a serious face and inspected the dummy carefully, taking his time to circle the straw target. He tried to picture the kunai lodged into a body of flesh and quickly determined that most, if not all, of the wounds were fatal. Naruto raised his brows in surprise. Was Seiji already preparing to kill? Wasn't he a little young?

"How long did you work on this?"

"Oji-san showed it to me two weeks ago; I've been training to get it right ever since!"

Naruto's neck nearly snapped as he faced little Seiji who was looking up at him with a large smile and pride shining in his dark eyes. He had mastered this technique in two weeks? Two weeks!? Naruto playfully scowled as he remembered that it had taken him over five months to hit all eight points perfectly in one jump. (Who cared about hitting the spine in the back when you had hit all seven other spots anyway?) His slight envy was soon replaced with concern for the well-being of his self-proclaimed little brother. He worried that Sasuke was expecting too much from Seiji; trying to teach him too much too soon. He was still just a kid; surely Sasuke hadn't forgotten that. Naruto huffed. Perhaps he would arrange a talk with his best friend just to make sure that Sasuke wasn't going overboard with Seiji's training.

"Well you've done good Seige," Naruto reached down to lightly poke his bro in the nose and grinned at the youth, "but you're gonna need to keep it up if you wanna be strong like me someday!"

Seiji laughed. "No problem nii-san! With my oji-san training me, I'll catch up to you in no time!"

Naruto couldn't stop himself from thinking, _'I'll bet.'_

* * *

The operating room was completely still. None of the four females dared to move, blink or breathe for fear that it would shatter the medic's concentration and end the life of their patient. The blue-haired medic nin carefully pushed and prodded around the body, searching for the poison that had recently taken residence in the patient. Twenty minutes later, the blue-haired male made a quick check over, scanning the body's organs, muscles, and tissue for any trace of the invader. Finding none the medic smiled and retracted his hands back to his sides. Many breaths of his fellow co-workers joined his in a giant sigh of relief; they had saved him.

Suddenly, the machine that kept watch of his heart rate gave an alarming sound. All of the medics turned to read the screen; the ninja's heart was failing.

"No!" the male medic exclaimed. He had gotten rid of the poison; he had made sure… He put his hands to work and made a quick scan of the body. The man's face paled visibly.

"Araki?" "What's happening?" "What went wrong?" came the worried voices of his partners. They were expecting him to know what had suddenly gone wrong in the procedure; they expected him to know what to do. Araki's gaze hardened; he could not let his team down.

"I got the poison out but it seems like it's already taken an effect on his body. We need to find a way to stop the poison from infecting his body more than it already has; we need an antidote damn it!"

"Sir, can't we just let his body fight off the poison's effects on its own?"

"No! You don't understand! The poison that he was infected with is vicious; it travels everywhere in the body and forces the immune system to chase it all over organs, bones, chakra network, muscle tissue… everything and anything. When the immune system begins to fight off the poison, the body ends up in the crossfire; his body is literally attacking itself!"

"Then what do we do?" "An antidote won't work if there's no poison!" "But we can't tell the immune system to stop; it thinks the venom is still there!" "So what, we just let him die!?" "That's not what I meant!" "Well it's what you said!" "I said nothing of the sort!!" "Fighting's not going to help this man's body!" "Stop being such a kiss ass!" "Kiss ass? How _dare_ you!? I'm trying to save this man's _life_! And all you two can do is argue over-"

"BE SILENT!!!!"

Silence once more commanded the room.

"If an antidote will not work and we can not communicate with the immune system then we will try to restart the body by stopping his heart and then shocking it. Can we do that?"

Numerous cries of agreement rang out. Araki gave a heavy sigh. These particular females did not make this job easy.

"Then ready the panels."

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Three women watched the operating room with slight admiration drawn on their gazes. They had been watching the whole procedure, evaluating, observing, criticizing, and had found very few mistakes in the man's performance. He was clearly skilled in healing techniques and familiar with information on deadly poisons and how to treat them. On top of that, he was a commanding person; he handled his team very well and kept them calm and under his control (for the most part). He also displayed talent for keeping a clear head in the event of an unforeseen problem and considered all of his options before choosing the best course of action. He held everything that the three women looked for in successful medics.

"He's got the exact makings of a medical shinobi." the dark haired woman commented.

"Yes," the blond agreed, "you trained him well Sakura."

"Thank you Shishou, Shizune. But to give him credit, I did little but supervise his training."

"Oh? How so?"

"Araki Tojo came to me a little less than three years ago and asked to train under me specifically. I refused him at first, thinking of my new responsibilities with Seiji but he was insistent. He made me countless bargains to get me to yield."

The Fifth Hokage raised a brow. "Bargains?"

"He told me that he understood the conditions of my situation and said that he would be happy to work anytime I was available. He even offered to help me with Seiji if it would add to his opportunity to practice under me. I politely told him that I was not looking for a partner to raise my son." The pinkette gave a small laugh before continuing. "Poor Araki was appalled. He assured me that his request was not a move to take advantage of me and promised to prove it if I only spent a single hour watching what he could do. He impressed me in that one hour and I took him under my wing soon after that. He was already educated in healing jutsu, herbs, antidotes and poisons so I showed him the ropes of the hospital and taught him the morals of a medic. He quickly adapted to the environment and put those morals into practice as soon as he heard them. In no time I had him practicing on live human bodies and he blew me away; I found it amazing how he found a way around every problem."

The three medics had their attention brought back to the events of the operating room as the steady beat of a functioning heart appeared on the monitor. Cheers and compliments circled throughout the room after Araki double checked the ninja's systems and confirmed that they were stable. The blue-haired man faced the observing window and searched for approval of three of Konoha's best medical personal.

He was extremely pleased to see the Hokage and her assistant nodding and smiling at him in encouragement; they were happy with his performance. He smiled back and then caught his mentor's green eyes with his own yellow orbs. Sakura gave him a bright grin and a wink. Quickly giving orders to the nurses to move the patient to a more comfortable room, Araki stepped out of the operating room and discarded his gloves and apron before turning to meet Sakura's form not five feet away from him.

"Sakura-san, were they pleased?"

He was graced with a smile before a verbalized answer, "They were extremely impressed Araki-kun. I won't be surprised if we find ourselves equals as highly skilled medics tomorrow."

Araki broke out into a smile again. He wondered if anything could bring down his day.

"And so, to celebrate, I think I should treat you to dinner."

The man was stunned. Had she really just…?

"Are you sure Sakura-san? I wouldn't want to -"

"Oh stop it with the 'san' formality!" Sakura teased while waving her hand. "Remember, we could very well be equals by now so no more big titles, you hear me?"

Araki could only nod. The thought that he had managed to impress Konoha's top medics and possibly be considered to share that title with them was still working its way through his brain. Sakura had to laugh. She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the hospital towards a stall that served an excellent selection of seafood.

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**Author's Note:** Good. You're reading this. I have a big favour to ask of all of you readers: if you have a particular scene or line in mind that you would like to see happen in my story please, please, please, _please_ tell me via review or private message! I'm really begging for this guys! I sort of know where I want the story to go but I'd like to hear what stuff works for you guys when reading a fanfic (sorry, I won't be including any lemons; limes are a _maybe_ but I make no promises!). And who knows? Maybe something you guys say to me will inspire me with a new idea! So please share your thoughts with me! (There is a similar note on my profile.)

Another thing, I know that some readers are wanting Sasuke and Sakura to _get a move on_ and talk to each other and have moments etc, etc. As this is my first fic, I'd also like to hear your ideas on moments that these two could share. It doesn't even have to make sense! Remember, something you say may spark an idea in my own brain and I can work with that! Also, I haven't quite decided what to do about a certain Araki Tojo. He actually appeared in this story without me really planning it. Do you guys think that anything should happen with him? Or should he just add to the drama/tension between SasuxSaku? Or even disappear after this chapter and never show up again? _Please let me know what you think!!!!_

One other thing, school is starting up so I can't promise that I'll update as often as I had been before. (Of course, I will write whenever I have the time and when the inspiration hits me. I'll find time to write!) I will definitely be checking in often though so if a new idea comes to your mind, don't hesitate to send me a message! Thanks again guys!!

A BIG THANK YOU TO THOSE OF YOU WHO READ THIS FAR!!!! *CYBER HUG*


	7. Awakening

**Author's Note: **Well for being a little later than I would've liked, I'm sad to say that this chapter is shorter than most of the others. And there is no fluff as of yet; that WILL start NEXT chapter! I PROMISE YOU!! So that being said, thanks go to Twigs-N-Leaves, MyUsedRomance, xXxtellmewhyxXx, rao hyuga 18, broken-heart-crossing, S.A. Hikari, minniemousemom, ISNAS, icygirl2, izzybell117, and XxXTigerstarzXxX for reviewing Chapter Six! ^^ You guys have no idea how much your reviews make my day! Another thing, I lied last chapter. I have one more AN at the end that I would like for you guys to read and respond to (since it worked out SO well the last time!). So please look at that. Anyway, enjoy! I hope I haven't lost too many readers because of lack of fluff. Remember: CHAPTER EIGHT'S THE CHARM!!! Or at least, the beginning of the charm! ^^

**Special Dedication:** While all who reviewed hit me with varying inspiration, I would like to give special mention to **xXxtellmewhyxXx** and dedicate this chapter to them. It was while I was reading their review that I came up with the new plot twist that appears in this chapter. I have yet to see how far it will go but I am definitely liking it! ^^

**Disclaimer: **Because I'm boring and unimaginative, I will simply say that I do not own Naruto and leave the disclaimer at that.

**

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**Chapter Seven: Awakening**

"I must say Sakura, this may very well be the best shellfish that I have ever had the pleasure of devouring."

The pinkette laughed. "Yes, you've made that much clear. You're nearly as bad as Naruto with his ramen!"

Araki narrowed his eyes critically. He had her caught. "Speaking of which, Naruto is occupied with your son at the moment isn't he?"

Sensing the change in Araki's mood, Sakura gave a small frown. "Yes."

"And since it is around an appropriate time to eat, would he not be treating little Seiji to a splendid meal of Ichiraku ramen?"

Sakura smiled for a small moment but quickly dropped it when Araki didn't return it. He was up to something. "He's probably doing that right now. Why so curious?"

Sakura took a moment to study her former apprentice. His shaggy, electric-blue hair hung in his gold eyes that seemed to weld and mold and shift with the intensity of his gaze. At twenty-two, the man was only a few inches taller than herself and was neither lanky nor buff but somewhere in between. He had a healthy color of skin, one that showed he had spent a reasonable amount of time in the sun. And while his angular features combined to create a handsome face, he was not drop-dead gorgeous. Often, he was found wearing a light gray top with a pair of blue pants. The pants would vary in shade and tone but they never once looked out of place on him. Araki had the odd tendency to speak rather politely and formally, like he was at a high-class party, but that trait seemed to fit with his personality. His brain was well trained as well; it possessed extensive knowledge and was quick to make a decision when it was pressured. (Sakura had only seen too many medics-in-training lose patients because of a panicked and indecisive manner.) But what could he be doing? His eyes were a smoldering kind of analytical. She knew he was preparing to catch every reaction she made; a twitch of a muscle, a hitch of a breath, a hesitation in words, a flicker of eyes… But what was he looking to prove? She had hid nothing from him so long as he had asked it and he was not one to pry into her private life except when it came to Seiji.

"I just wonder," he said nonchalantly, "why you would not grab the opportunity to see your son and your good friend. Ichiraku is no where near this place; you can't possibly hope to run into them. So why have you brought me so far away from their eyes and ears?"

Sakura sighed and started fiddling with her half- full water glass. He had the same observational attitude as any ninja she knew; she was foolish to think he wouldn't notice. Still, she had wanted to talk to him and he had given her to perfect opportunity to bring it up.

"They do know about my existence don't they? Know that I have been training under you for the past three years?"

"Actually, they don't." Sakura stared into her water, slightly ashamed of her secrecy. Kami-sama knows she had made it into a bad habit over the years.

"You haven't mentioned anything about me? Nothing at all?"

"Not a single thing."

"I see." After a slight pause of both of them trying to figure out what to say next, Araki continued.

"I assume you that 'you can explain'."

"I can." Sakura took a very deep breath and took a moment to steel herself. She had to make it seem like she was one hundred percent supportive of her decision. Otherwise, Araki's clever eyes would see her reluctance and his kind nature would never allow him to go along with her plan.

Firm minted eyes clashed with melting gold ones.

"I didn't take you in as an apprentice so you could join me and the other medics in the hospital."

Gold narrowed in betrayal but held back from striking. His intuition told him that she was playing around with her words. Mint seemed to lose a bit of its shine but kept up a strong offense.

"I trained you so that you could replace me."

Yellow orbs quickly widened in shock. The invitation to dinner had been sudden enough but now this?

"I... I'm afraid that don't understand..."

"Araki, I am offering you my job as Head Medical Ninja of Konoha's Hospital."

* * *

Later that same week found two ANBU Captains browsing the katana selection at Emi's Blades: Konoha's Finest Weapons Shop because a recent mission had left Naruto's last sword in poor condition. Captain Uzumaki was carefully studying each blade's weight, flexibility, and sharpness while Captain Uchiha brooded along the wall and watched his friend. The conversation was kept to a minimum with Naruto occasionally asking Sasuke for his opinion or his advice on the katana blades.

Silence had befallen them for a long while and Sasuke glanced at his friend, wondering if something was amiss. The dobe was staring at a blade (which he had been studying much longer than was necessary) in his hands with clouded and unmoving eyes. Odd.

"That steel rusts more easily than other brands." Sasuke spoke up.

Blue eyes immediately cleared and sparked with attention. "Right…" Now Sasuke was a bit concerned; Naruto did not space out often nor did he ever pretend to pass something off. Was something bothering him?

"Issue with your team?" prodded the Uchiha survivor. His best friend gave him a penetrating look as if he were trying to decipher why Sasuke was concerned about his ANBU squad at all. Still, Naruto answered in a very Naruto-like manner.

"Nope; they're great! Of course, they have no choice to be anything otherwise; with me as their Captain and all."

"Spat with Hinata?"

"No! Hinata and I are fine! We even have a date for tomorrow. Why do you ask; you wanna make it a double with Sakura?" Naruto shifted his eyebrows and gave a scheming glance towards his friend. Sasuke pretended to ignore it.

"No, I'm trying to figure out what's keeping your little mind so occupied."

"Yeah, well… you wouldn't care to hear it."

"You're right. So don't waste my time by spacing out around me."

"Fine!"

"Fine."

Silence.

"So," Naruto suddenly started, "you taught him the kunai barrage?" Ah, so _that's_ what was bothering the idiot.

Sasuke shrugged. "He wanted a challenge."

"Yeah but Kakashi taught us that technique after we both officially became chunin! What are you doing, teaching little Seige an attack like that when he's eight? What are you planning to teach him next year, Chidori!?"

"He is a prodigy, just like his father; it's natural for him to advance beyond his years."

"You taught him a chunin level technique!"

"And he mastered it within two weeks."

"So what!? Are you trying to make him an ANBU Captain when he's thirteen like Itachi?"

"It's a possibility."

Naruto gaped at his fellow ANBU. He couldn't be serious!? "Aren't you taking these training sessions a bit too far?"

Sasuke raised his brow in question. What was wrong with his training? "I don't know what you mean."

"I mean exactly what I'm saying; I think you're expecting too much from him. He's only a kid Sasuke; let him enjoy it for a few years before stuffing his head with killing techniques!"

"Seiji doesn't seem to mind any of my methods."

"That's because he doesn't know what the hell you're teaching him! And neither do I for that matter! Why are you pushing him so hard in his training anyway?"

Sasuke averted his gaze to the floor and didn't answer. Naruto made a strange face and tried to make sense of his friend's peculiar behavior. The fact that he didn't answer the question either meant that there was no answer (which Naruto knew was impossible; Uchihas _always_ had a reason behind their actions) or that the answer was something that Sasuke thought Naruto would not approve of. Naruto scrunched his eyebrows together as he tried to think of things he wouldn't be happy about. One thought came up and stuck in his brain. Naruto widened his eyes. Sasuke wasn't…

"Oh no," Naruto gave the elder Uchiha a pleading look, "please, please, _please_ tell me that you are _not_ trying to activate Seiji's Sharingan."

The Uchiha remained silent. Naruto nearly choked on his own spit and ran his hands over his face before glaring at Sasuke and marching towards the shop's door, thoughts of purchasing a new katana now absent from his To-Do List. Millions of insults, exclamations and profanities littered the Uzumaki's mind and he had a hard time picking only one of them to say. At the doorway he finally settled for the simplest one.

"I can't believe you."

Sasuke, who had followed the man on the way out, gave a grunt; seemingly uncaring to his friend's opinion. Naruto, not able to keep his opinion to himself, continued to rant to his best friend as they walked down Konoha's streets towards the training grounds.

"I mean, honestly, I thought it was bad enough that you've refused to tell Sakura-chan anything about your little escapade with her son but now you're using that time to try to manipulate the kid's genes!? Seriously teme, _get a life_ and stop meddling in everyone else's! It's getting tiresome! C'mon, you already deserted us for some pedophile, snake freak, son of a bitch and proceeded to kill him three years later; then you went off on your own and created your little 'Sasuke is our God to Salvation' team and dumped Sakura-chan and I behind _again_ just so you could go and kill off what was left of your family!! And then you came back here and expected to get off lightly (which you accomplished anyway, you lucky bastard) and then crept your way into Team 7 again!! I don't mean to say the obvious teme but if you weren't my best friend I'd tell you where you could go and -"

For some invisible reason, Naruto stopped dead in his tracks with one foot frozen in the air. Sasuke, startled at the sudden absence of Naruto's voice and his presence, turned around and faced the man who was a frozen a few steps behind him. The Uchiha raised a brow at the incredulous look the Uzumaki was giving him. Naruto looked like he just found out that he would have to eat twice as much ramen as usual if he wanted to become Hokage; disbelieving but also hopeful that it wasn't a joke.

"Kami-sama…"

"What?"

"You like her."

"…What??"

"Sakura-chan. You like her."

"…"

"…"

"You're delusional."

"You _really _like her. You're denying it."

"Because I'd rather not discuss this in public."

"You'd discuss this in private?"

"Hn."

Sasuke felt Naruto grab his arm and heard a poof of smoke before the scene of Konoha's everyday town activity was replaced with Naruto's untidy apartment room. Naruto forced Sasuke to fall into one of the chairs before he claimed the other one and positioned himself to sit directly in front of the Uchiha.

"Speak." Naruto commanded.

Sasuke crossed his arms and averted his gaze. So what if he was acting like a spoiled child that was not getting his way? Naruto was the one who wanted answers and he was not going to give them if he continued speaking to him as if he were a dog on a leash.

Naruto groaned at Sasuke's uncooperative behavior. _'Stubborn ass.'_

"C'mon teme, at least _admit_ to liking her."

"I don't have to admit anything to you."

"No, you really don't. You can keep on throwing dangerous techniques at Seiji in hopes that his Sharingan will turn up. Because when that happens Sakura-chan's gonna have no choice but to see you and ask you to help her. And once that happens you don't have to train Seiji in secret anymore and Sakura will see that you and him get along great and then he'll start calling you 'tou-san' when Sakura realizes that she still loves you and that you love her and you both will get married, have lots of little Uchiha babies of your own, and live happily ever after. Is that your plan?"

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably in his seat but still refused to meet Naruto's blue gaze.

"Not word-for-word…" he mumbled.

Naruto gave a cheeky grin. "But I've got the concept, right?"

"… Hn."

And on the inside, while he stood up to offer the Uchiha food, Naruto couldn't stop laughing.

But in a distant part of Konoha, no one was laughing.

* * *

"NO!!" Scream.

"Seiji -" Reason.

"NO!! I DON'T WANT TO!!!" Childish.

"I know but if you'd only -" Tolerant.

"NO!! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!!!" Defiance.

"Seiji please, just listen to me!" Plead.

"I DON'T HAVE TO; YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!!!" Ouch.

"You are my son and I am -" Annoyance.

"YOU CAN PRETEND ALL YOU WANT, BUT YOU ARE NOT AND WILL NEVER BE MY KA-SAN!!!!" Sting.

"Seiji Haruno I will not tolerate -" Oh no. No! She. Did. _Not._

"UCHIHA!!! I'M SEIJI **UCHIHA**!!!! _YOU'RE_ THE HARUNO!!!!" Insult.

"As long as you live under my -" Anger.

"IF YOU REALLY WERE MY MOTHER, YOU WOULD _NEVER_ MAKE ME DO THIS!!!" Fury.

"I'm doing this so that -" Fighting.

"YOU CAN SEPARATE ME FROM THE LAST OF MY FAMILY!?" Irrational.

"No! That was not my -"

"MY OJI-SAN WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN, HE WON'T LET YOU DO THIS, HE LOVES ME!!!!" Believing.

"!…" Surprise.

"… He does…" Sniffle. "Nii-san told me so…"

"You've met your uncle?" Whisper.

"…" Silence.

"When did you meet your uncle? Where?" Panic.

"WHY DO _YOU_ CARE!?!?!?!" Red. Deep, bloody, overpowering, crimson _red_.

"SEIJI!!" Temper. "WHEN. DID. YOU. MEET. SASUKE!?"

"YEARS AGO!!!!" Jab. "I'VE BEEN MEETING HIM IN SECRET FOR **YEARS!!!** ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, _MOTHER_!?"

"…" Stunned.

Seiji pulled on his hair and shut his eyes tight. He couldn't stand to stay in this place for another minute. He ran past a frozen statue of Sakura, grabbed his pajamas and his frog stuffy (from Naruto at his last birthday), and bolted out of the apartment door.

But not before pausing to throw a glare of intense hatred towards his _mother_.

Sakura had to cover her mouth with her hands to stop herself from crying out. It had been the very first time that Seiji had made direct eye contact with her and instead of seeing her adopted son she had been sure that _Itachi _had just fled from her doorway. Sakura paled.

_Seiji… he couldn't… not _now_ of all times…_

At the end of the hallway Seiji heard Sakura call his name with a shaky voice but he kept running, broke free of the apartment doors and adding chakra to his feet just like oji-san had taught him. The new burst of speed was, as it always had been, exhilarating but a little difficult to adjust to. In his desperate state to escape from the Haruno, Seiji forced himself to adjust quickly and make sharp turns as he ran towards the training ground where he always met oji-san. It was the only place that Sakura didn't know about and, deep in his heart Seiji also hoped - prayed - that his uncle would be there.

The boy could not find words to describe the entirety of the hollow despair that consumed him when he found the clearing empty.

And so – tired, frustrated, alone, empty, upset, torn, broken and _unbelievably __**angry**_– the youth nestled himself between the roots of a tree, slipped his pajamas over his outfit, grasped the stuffed frog for all it was worth and cried himself to sleep.

* * *

Where was he!?

Where was he!?!

Where _was_ he!?!?

A blur of pink and red could be seen speeding all over Konoha. The medic ignored all of the good-natured but perplexed gazes and questions that she was receiving from ninja and civilian alike. She even brushed off Ino, Kiba, Hinata, and Lee in search of the Uchiha. All four of her friends had tried to restrain her and get her to explain her frenzied state of panic but she would fight them off as if her life depended on it and sprint away once she was free. Sakura didn't even know who was holding her back or who she met or who she hit away; she didn't care. All that mattered was finding him.

Where are you!?

Where are you!?!

Where _are_ you!?!?

Her fear and panic only rose as she checked each place that she could think of. He wasn't anywhere; not at Ichiraku, not in the market, not at Team 7's old bridge, not at Ino's flower shop, not around the Hokage's Mansion, not anywhere!

**Damn it Sasuke!!! **_**Where are you!?!?!**_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well for what it was, I hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 7! And because you guys were so helpful the last time, I want to ask you to try something kinda different for me. In your review (you will review won't you?) I would like you to include a small list of approx. 5 random words/phrases/quotes/whatever else. They can be things in your room, emotions, nouns, places, names, animals, minerals, food, other, unknown, games, movie titles, whatever! If you don't feel like picking them then I've thought up something you could do: head to Google, Yahoo or Youtube and type in 'Sasuke is...', see what comes up, and give me any of them. They don't have to be Sasuke. They could be Sakura or Naruto or Zabuza or Ichigo even but please give me something to work with. Kay? Easy enough? I'm hoping that something one of you send me will spark a new inspiration/idea in my scheming head. So please, please, please give me something! And thanks for reading!!!


	8. Appearance of an Old Friend

**Author's Note: **Whew! That was a close one but I managed to maybe _just_ make the deadline that I set out for myself! I said by Sunday and I posted this Sunday night! Lucky I was hit with inspiration for this story huh? ^^ So anyway, thanks for reviewing go to Twigs-N-Leaves, MyUsedRomance, xXxtellmewhyxXx, rao hyuga 18, vegemaru, minniemousemom, XxXTigerstarzXxX, Marie Pattin and Kaamen! I'm so glad that I get new people reviewing every time! You know how every author tells you that reviewing makes them sooooooooooooooooo happy? Well they all say that for a reason; it DOES make author's sooooooooooooooooo very happy!!! So **thank you so much** to all who have ever reviewed a chapter of mine! I really does brighten my day! ^^ Now, I've kept you all waiting long enough. Ladies (any gentlemen out there??), I present to you, The Life of the Child: Chapter Eight!! I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer: **Look, you're all smart people and you all know enough about Naruto to know that I would be a big fat liar if I claimed that I owned anything related to the show. So let's just say I don't own anything of Naruto and move on to the moment of long-awaited fluffiness! ^^

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Appearance of an Old Friend**

"NARUTO!!!! YOU DON'T EVEN WANT TO KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!"

A thoroughly annoyed groan sounded throughout the messy apartment. Sasuke sat up on the couch-turned-bed that Naruto had set up for him a few hours before, just after they had eaten an instant ramen dinner. It had been late when Naruto invited Sasuke to stay the night and Sasuke, at the time, had seen no reason to decline. But then Sakura started to pound on the door at two in the morning.

'_If I knew this was gonna happen…'_

He put a hand to his head as Sakura continued to holler threats at the dumb blond who was quite a heavy sleeper for a shinobi. Sasuke could still hear his snores over Sakura's howling. The raven-haired man couldn't decide who the more annoying teammate was.

Giving a large sigh Sasuke reasoned that Sakura would continue to scream until she either woke the whole damn Fire Country or had the door answered and had stood up to answer the door when Sakura suddenly silenced herself. Alarmed, and thinking that she was silenced by force, Sasuke rushed to pull the door open. Without warning, Sakura's weight fell against his legs. She gave a gasp of surprise and looked up from her kneeling position, letting his beautiful black eyes see the ugly tears that leaked from her bloodshot orbs.

"Sakura?"

It didn't even occur to her that the man in front of her had been acting behind her back and socializing with Seiji despite her wishes. That wasn't important at the moment. Seiji was missing and she had all the time in the world to confront him about what he had done and why. Besides, hadn't she been looking unsuccessfully for him? She had thought Naruto would've known the Uchiha's whereabouts but she had no idea that Sasuke would be spending the night here. But those were insignificant details. She needed Sasuke's help.

"Sa… Sasuke-kun? What are you… But I thought… Naruto…"

"The dobe slept through your racket."

Sasuke knelt down so that they were both eye level. By the way she was sitting, it seemed as though she had fallen to her knees and used the door as support after she discovered that yelling wasn't working. Sasuke carefully brushed aside any pink bangs that were blocking his view from her face and quickly grew concerned as he read her body language. Her entire frame was tense as though fighting to keep something at bay (Sasuke guessed that the something was more tears); her shoulders were shaking unevenly as she tried to control her choked breathing; tears kept flowing from her eyes even though she was fighting hard to stop them from escaping; her face, hair, and shirt were wet with the tears that had already fallen (how much and how long had she been crying?); her nose was running a bit; her eyes were swollen and red, giving her usually sparkling eyes a horrific look; and she was begging him – no, she was _beseeching_ him – with her entire being for… something. Sasuke couldn't help but think that there was only one other time that she had looked so pathetic: _the time she had let Team 7 in her apartment after he had returned._

Remembering the promise he had made with Naruto, Sasuke lightly gripped her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Sakura, what's happened?"

She shut her eyes to the new wave of tears and tried to cover up a strangled sound by covering her mouth with her hands but she couldn't disguise the fact that whatever had happened had been a major emotional blow to her. Knowing that he needed to calm her down somehow, Sasuke gently carried her inside and set her on the couch. He knelt in front of her again so that he wouldn't intimidate her and thought of what he could do to comfort her. Drawing a blank, he stood to wake the dobe – Naruto was better at comforting people anyway – but a frail hand shot out and stopped him before he could stand up completely.

"No! D-Don't le-ave!"

As he looked into her crying eyes he was reminded of their time in the Forest of Death during the Chunin Exams. Her frightened eyes had an effect on him then and they still held their effect now. He was very reluctant to leave her but Naruto would be so much better to comfort her…

Sasuke raised his hand to her resisting grip on his shoulder. Thinking that he was going to remove her hand, Sakura panicked and grasped his one hand with both of hers.

"No! Don't! D-D-Don't leave." She guided his hand to her soaked cheek and held it in place. She shut her eyes as though the skin-to-skin touch was both soothing and painful to her. "Pl-Please…"

Sasuke had to make an effort to not wince at his teammate's weakened state. She was obviously not in a clear state of mind. Just what had shaken her up so badly? Sasuke swore that if it were a person who did this to her they would not live to see the sunrise.

Within the next ten minutes her sobs were reduced to hiccups and labored breathing but he did not move his hand in fear that it would upset her. Remembering what his mother did whenever he had a nightmare, Sasuke raised his other hand to her hair and hesitantly ran her pink locks through his fingers. He wasn't sure if he was doing a good thing since she opened her eyes and looked at him in an almost frightened sort of surprise. Sasuke recalled his mother also making small, soothing sounds when he had been scared but he dared not try with Sakura. She was already startled enough with his hand in her hair. But he had to say something!

"Sakura, what's happened?"

She swallowed hard and tried to form sentences but her heaving breathing pattern prevented her from getting more than a few scattered words out.

"Shouldn't… Didn't mean… Yelling… Screaming… Seiji..." Sasuke's sense of protectiveness arose even more at the mention of his nephew. "Couldn't stop… Angry… Ran away…Can't find him… Ran here… Help… Sasuke, help."

He did not miss her plead in her voice. Although he had a vague idea of what had occurred (an argument? And Seiji had run away?) he found himself surprisingly caught in a small dilemma. His entire Uchiha being was pushing him to depart immediately and search for the last of the clan but something else was keeping him glued in place in front of Sakura; something that was equally as strong as his Uchiha pride. But what was it? His honor as a Leaf Ninja? His loyalty to her as a teammate? Somehow he knew that whatever it was, it was more than that.

* * *

Blue and green met his black when he stumbled in to Naruto's apartment later that same morning. The first thing that Sakura had noticed was that he was alone and she broke away from Naruto's comforting arms and starting asking him numerous hysterical questions about her son. Sasuke and Naruto did their best to calm her before Sasuke reported that Seiji was currently sleeping at his complex. Hearing that he had been found sleeping in their old training ground sent her into sobs of relief. He was _safe_. He hadn't _run_ from the village. He hadn't _left_ her. He was still _hers_. He -

"Although," Sasuke started. "I think that, for the time being, Seiji would be better off under my care."

Sakura's eyes widened and she whispered, "Wh… What? B-But… Why?"

"When I found him, the amount of chakra fueling his eyes was abnormal." Abnormal. So she hadn't imagined the red eyes.

"Are you sure? There's absolutely no doubt?"

"Eh? No doubt about what?" Count on Naruto to make an inappropriate entrance.

"Last night, before he left, Seiji glared at me. His eyes had been red." Sakura placed a hand to her throbbing temple as the frightening memory played out in her mind's eye. "I was so… I had been so _sure_ that it had been _Itachi_ glaring at me."

"Seiji's activated his Sharingan??"

Sakura nodded. "I had hoped it was my mind playing tricks on me. But if Sasuke's right about the chakra levels…"

"But why did it activate now?"

"It was probably because of the stimuli of the argument." Both Naruto and Sakura urged Sasuke to elaborate. "Whatever it was that you two were fighting about Sakura, it had to have made him feel relentless emotion; enough that he felt threatened and wished to fight back. The emotions, the desire to keep you at bay, the heat of the argument and natural instinct all combined to create an almost animalistic tact for survival and for an Uchiha, wielding the Sharingan provides you with the best chances. Seiji's Sharingan appeared because he wished it to; because he had a need for it."

Team 7 fell silent after Sasuke's brief monologue. Until Naruto decided to break it anyways.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A single clone appeared beside the original. The two shared a mutual glance before the clone nodded and dashed out of the apartment.

"What are you doing Naruto?"

Naruto faced his female teammate with an almost apologetic smile. "Sorry Sakura-chan but I think the teme's right; Seiji should probably stay with him for a while. I don't think you should try to see him either."

"What!? But I'm -"

Naruto shook his head. "No buts Sakura-chan. Whatever you said to Seiji obviously pissed him off. He's not gonna be too happy with you; give him a chance to cool down."

"I can't not see him! What if he got sick after sleeping outside overnight?"

"I'm pretty sure I can handle a kid with a cold Sakura." Sasuke put in.

Naruto gave her a very stern stare. "Besides, you've been so stressed about work and missions and Seiji and stuff lately. So stressed that you exploded and took it out on little Seige. _You_ need a chance to cool down even if he doesn't."

Sakura let out a long sigh. Come to think of it, she had been feeling stressed lately. A lot of it was probably because of a lack of sleep but no one could really blame her for that. She had a lot running through her mind. Medical documents, paperwork to be done, patients at the hospital, Araki, getting Seiji to and from the Academy, feeding Seiji and herself each night and day, her recent lack of training, minor missions that required a good chunk of her chakra and not spending any time with any of her friends because everything else kept her so busy. In fact, the only friend she made contact with in the past four months was Naruto when she dropped by on the weekends he looked after Seiji. But even those visits were kept short and brief. Sakura realized that Naruto was probably right. She _had_ been stressed and she _had_ let it out on Seiji.

Sakura sighed again. She made a horrible mother.

"Alright Naruto, you win. So what do I do to 'cool down'?"

"THAT WOULD BE WHERE I COME IN!!!!"

Team 7 spun to look at the noisy newcomer. Sakura paled when she recognized the haughty expression on the shinobi's face. Sasuke seemed to be contemplating a face palm and Naruto put on a hundred watt smile.

"About time you got here! I was beginning to worry that my own clone had gotten lost!"

"He did idiot. He was making circles right in front of my house and so I asked him if he was looking for someone. Turns out he was looking for moi!"

Naruto sweatdropped. "You're lying right?"

"Nope! Dead serious! But enough about you Naruto, where's the Forehead bitch who hasn't seen me, talked to me, gossiped to me, visited me or hung out with me in FOREVER!?!"

Sakura sweatdropped. Seems like her nick-name had expanded somewhat. "Naruto… You called for _her_?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous laugh. "I figured that you could use what kunoichi call 'girl time'. That's supposed to cheer all girls up right?"

"_Damn_ right Naruto!!! Now move aside so I can see the ugly thing!!" Naruto's blond head flew to the side and was replaced by another's beautiful strands of blond and equally stunning blue eyes. "Wow Saks, you look like something Orochimaru spat out of Hell."

Sakura couldn't help a slight twitch of an eye. "It's nice to see you too Ino."

Ino flashed a Cheshire grin and dramatically pulled Sakura up off the couch and towards the door. "Step aside boys, I'll take care of her from here!"

"Just keep her in one piece!"

"No promises Dumbo!! See you later Sasuke!" With a final flirtatious glance at the man, Ino resumed her focus on what was in front of her and missed the S.O.S. that Sakura gave her teammates. She also missed the way they laughed and smirked at her respectively with expressions along the lines of 'You'll thank me for this later' and 'I'm sure you'll survive'. Inside her mind, Sakura cried a very large river. **Weren't her teammates supposed to be on her side!?!?!?!?**

* * *

A small but pleasant tea shop was not extremely busy with business. Only a handful people were inside. Two kunoichi were among them.

"Well go on Sakura. Enlighten me." Said the blond one.

The pinkette across from her sighed and set down her mug. "What do you want to hear Ino?"

Ino took a moment to consider her options. "The truth."

"About what?"

"About everything Sakura! I haven't seen you for months and I want to know why."

"… I've been busy."

"Puh-lease Sakura; don't insult my intelligence by giving crappy answers. Elaborate. Tell me everything."

And so Sakura spilt everything on Ino. All of her worries, stresses, problems, and innermost thoughts. And Ino listened. She did not interrupt the accomplished medic in any of her monologue except for the casual reaction to something particularly surprising. When Sakura had finished Ino let out a long whistle.

"_Damn _Sakura, why have you kept this all bottled up?"

"Well I haven't seen you at all recently. I meant to meet with you but I never found the time."

"And why do you _have_ to tell _me_ all of this when you have two very capable and very sexy teammates who would slit throats for you? They'd listen too y'know and I don't think they'd like the idea of you bottling up crap in your system."

"What, Naruto and Sasuke?" The Haruno laughed. "They'd never understand half of it!"

Ino raised a brow. "Wouldn't they?"

Sakura thought it over for a minute. Her two boys had always been there for her and she knew that she was an important part of them, just as they were a very important part of her. Truthfully, the thought of flooding all of them with her stress had never occurred to her as being a sane option. They were guys and guys don't get why stuff worries women so much. They might've brushed it off saying that she was making a mountain out of a molehill and worried about something that would fix itself on its own. They wouldn't have actually _gotten_ any of it.

'_But maybe,' _Sakura mused. _'Maybe I _needed_ to hear that it wasn't a big deal and that it would pass and work itself out. Maybe I needed someone to be blunt with me. Kami-sama, I hate being a girl.'_

"… Maybe they might've…"

Ino made a sort of snorting noise and proceeded to chide Sakura as if she were speaking to a child. "Trust me when I say that they definitely _would have_ Forehead. I talk to Shikamaru and Chouji all the time and they always make me feel tons better! You really should put a little more trust in your teammates. Cause believe it or not, they love you and your stupid, little, complicated, overworked brain that you hide behind that ridiculously large forehead of yours."

Both girls broke into cheery laughter that brought tears to both their eyes. Sakura could always count on Ino to solve all her problems. But maybe she should take Ino's advice and start to count on her team for that as well. After all, Ino wouldn't always be available every time Sakura needed a good smack in the head.

"Speaking of which, how is the delectable Sasuke Uchiha these days?" Ino purred suggestively.

"Actually," Sakura admitted. "I haven't really seen him all that much in the past few months either."

Ino looked shocked. "What? But he's your teammate and your one true soul mate!! If you're not spending time with him who are you spending your time with?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at Ino's drama. After a group mission in which he had saved her from a dangerous situation, Ino had gotten the idea in her head that Sasuke was absolutely, without-a-doubt _made_ for Sakura. The pinkette had brushed off Ino's teasing saying that she wasn't twelve years old anymore and she no longer felt that way about her hunky teammate. Ino sang out about denial and would bring up the topic whenever she felt necessary. (This, unfortunately, was nearly every time Sasuke was even briefly mentioned in conversation.)

"Sasuke is not my soul mate Ino."

Ino shook a finger at Sakura in a scolding manner. "Ah, ah, ah little blossom. You're deflecting from the actual question! Is there some hot guy that I don't know about? Is that who takes up all of your precious time nowadays? And you're wrong. Sasuke totally _is_ your destined soul mate! It's so obvious!"

"If it's so obvious that Sasuke and I are 'destined to be together' why do you flirt with him on a regular basis?"

"Come on Forehead, what's the harm in a little friendly, completely good-natured competition? It's not like he'd choose anyone else over you. But that's still not my point. There's a hot guy isn't there?"

"Like hell it isn't your point. It's always your point. And for your information, there are a lot of girls that Sasuke would choose over me; ones who are a lot less 'annoying'."

"Okay, is there actually a hot guy or are you just determined to talk about Sasuke U-frickin-chiha?"

"Neither."

"Bull. I'm not buying that Sakura. Now tell me which one it is."

Sakura put in a sigh. Now she remembered why she was filled with dread when she burst into Naruto's apartment. And to think that she had forgotten about how nosy the pig could be because she was so busy spilling her guts to her. No doubt Ino would use some of it as blackmail in the future. Well, that's a best friend for ya.

"Cough up Billboard Brow. Hot guy or Sasuke? Which is our next topic of conversation?"

"Why can't we talk about your Shikamaru/Chouji/Sai issue?"

Ha! There was no way that Ino wouldn't babble on about this for the rest of the day! Ino loved to wallow in her own dramatic guy issue. Especially when Neji and Tenten were engaged for next month and Naruto and Hinata had been a steady item since last winter. Even Konohamaru and Moegi had gone out a few times. Ino felt like she was falling behind all her friends (except Sakura of course) and Ino coming in last certainly wouldn't do. The problems came up when it took to choosing who she wanted to be with.

"Because nothing has happened with that! Except that Sai has been taken out of the equation; I just don't think that he and I could keep up a steady relationship since we haven't known each other for very long."

"So it's between Shikamaru and Chouji now?"

"Yes but it doesn't seem to make a difference; I still can't decide! Man, it would be so much easier if one of them showed interest in another girl! Not that I _want_ either of them to find someone else but it sure would save a lot of stress on my part!"

"What about Temari? Didn't she and Shikamaru have a thing going on a year ago?"

"Che, I don't even know if you could call it a 'thing'. They had dinner a few times when they were in the Lightning Country preparing for the Chunin exams but they haven't advanced beyond that and Shikamaru doesn't talk much about it. But I don't think he's hiding anything from Chouji and I, he just doesn't have anything worth reporting."

"And Chouji?"

"Ugh. Get comfortable girl, this one's a doozy."

Sakura waved over the waiter for another pot of tea and repositioned herself on her floor cushion. Ino would talk about this so long as she asked an occasional question and completely agreed with her whenever she insulted someone. This would be just as simple as it had been every other time. Sakura gave a small sigh of relief. It was nice to have this topic to use as an escape if the conversation got too close for her comfort.

As Ino babbled on and on about Chouji meeting a friendly girl (who was, incidentally, a very talented cook) at a new restaurant in town, Sakura never took a moment to consider why exactly the topic of Sasuke and Araki always made her uncomfortable.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well, I hope you're all a bit satisfied with that! This has actually been one of my favorite chapters to write so far. You can't deny that Miss Ino Yamanaka brings a lot of opportunity for a brighter chapter! ^^ Although, I'm not overly confident about the fluffy part. I didn't do my best work there did I? ^^; Oh, well. Better luck next time right?

Now, as for the thing to inspire future writing. I would love it if you guys would give me your opinions on either the Ino/Shikamaru/Chouji issue or the Sakura/Sasuke/Araki issue or both!! Feel free to scream and yell and rant if you wish, the more you write the more I get to work with! (Note: the S/S/A may or may not happen. I still haven't exactly decided what role Araki has in my story but I know that with your help, I'll figure it out!) Keep an eye out for Chapter 9!


	9. Resolutions

**Author's Note: **I'm sorry I made you guys wait this long! Frankly, I'm surprised that it took me so long to update. O.O I'm hoping it won't happen again but I don't make any promises. Thanks to Twigs-N-Leaves, MyUsedRomance, rao hyuga 18, vegemaru, S.A. Hikari, Marie Pattin, -siMpLe-reActiON-, and Tsarina Torment for reviewing!! Here's to all of you! ^^ Cheers!

**Disclaimer: **I'm sure that if I tried really hard and tapped into my hidden pro ninja powers that I could steal Naruto from Masashi Kishimoto. Too bad I'm too lazy. XP

**

* * *

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Chapter Nine: Resolutions

Sunlight crept through the window and snaked over dark bed sheets before finally settling on a young boy's face. The light added a healthy glow to his, rather sickly, pale skin. Birds could be heard chirping in the distance and, he could be mistaken, but the boy thought he heard a muffled hop of a small hare just outside his window. The creaking of the opening door was the next thing to catch his attention. Seiji Uchiha calmly continued to feign sleep.

"Seiji."

That was his uncle's voice; he knew it was. It had the same smooth, deep voice that always made Seiji feel at ease. Often, when he couldn't sleep because of nightmares of his kaa-san, Seiji would imagine Sasuke's voice gently cooing him to sleep. It had always proved to be a successful tactic but he had yet to reveal that success to anyone. He had always felt that the subject of his oji-san was a gray area whenever his _mother_ was concerned and so, had never felt the need to share his discovery with her or anyone else.

"I know you are awake." A heavy weight was placed on one side of the mattress and a cool hand on the boy's warm forehead. Words like 'fever' and 'worse' and 'better be soon' were caught from the muttering Sasuke did under his breath. A brief pause entered the room before Sasuke let out a sigh and said, "Your mother's worried about you."

Seiji scowled. "I don't care," he spat.

"Maybe not but she is your mother -"

"No she's not."

Seiji heard his uncle sigh again and imagined him running a hand through dark, unruly hair. He knew that he often did this when he was aggravated.

"Alright. You don't need to see her but I am going to talk to her. When I come back you should be ready to train."

The weight on the bed shifted to rise up but Seiji stopped the movement by saying, "I don't feel like training." Now Seiji pictured his uncle staring at him, analyzing him. If his words were particularly puzzling, Sasuke would have raised a single eyebrow.

"I don't care. You need this training Seiji." A sturdy hand made a quick journey through the boy's dark violet locks before the bed weight disappeared and the door creaked closed.

Seiji Uchiha rolled over in his bed, away from the door and towards the window. Slowly – very, very slowly – the boy split his eyes open and cringed in fear at the reflection in his uncle's headband on the bedside table. He still saw red.

Deep, bloody, overpowering, crimson _red_.

* * *

"He doesn't want to see you."

An empty nod was the only response he received from his pink-haired teammate and then a silence befell them.

The two of them were currently situated in Sasuke's living room. While Sasuke had checked on Seiji, Sakura had busied herself by brewing up a pot of tea. It now sat between the two members of Team 7 on a polished, wooden coffee table. It was partnered with two matching china cups Sakura had found in a corner cupboard. Sakura balanced her mug in her lap with both her hands and Sasuke's remained untouched.

Sakura drank from her cup before she broke the quiet of the house with a simple, straight-forward, no beating-around-the-bush question. "Why'd you do it?"

Sasuke met her eyes in a questioning manner. She could tell that he didn't understand and for some reason, that made her angry. She made this fact obvious when her question came out as a light growl.

"Why did you decide to play _Daddy Sasuke_ behind my back?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the light malice that decorated her words. Playing Daddy Sasuke!? Was she looking to blame _him_ for whatever had happened between Seiji and her? Because he certainly was not going to put up with that.

"The same reason you decided to play _Mommy Sakura_ for the past three years." He hissed.

Sakura didn't try to hide the harsh glare that she threw at her former-teammate.

"I'm not in the mood for these _games_ Uchiha," she spat. It had been rough, these past twenty-four hours. Her fight with Seiji had exhausted her enough but then she had run around town looking for him and then had spent the rest of the night panicking in front of Sasuke and Naruto. Ino had always held a special talent for draining her of her energy as well so spending the afternoon with her had been anything but restful. She did _not_ need to fight with a second Uchiha today. But she just wasn't in the mood to control her temper. "I want a straight answer: why did you see him when I made it perfectly clear that I wanted you far away from him?"

Sasuke was not an idiot. He knew that she had been ruffled and riled up by the events of the past day but he was not prepared to be her punching bag. If she wanted to be angry then he'd let her be. Besides, he could get angrier.

"Because _Haruno_, Seiji made it perfectly clear that he wanted me involved in his life."

"And you completely tossed aside my wants for his!?"

"Yes!"

Sakura's anger vanished so swiftly that even the Sharingan wouldn't have been able to keep up. Her shoulders sagged and her head bowed to hide her tearing eyes. She had known why he did what he did: it was a matter of choosing his family over her. Again. Her eyes watered even more as she recalled memories of a midnight, a bench, a confession, and a thank-you. He had chosen his family back then too. Would he ever choose her!?

…_No, he wouldn't – he _won't_. Because the Uchiha comes before everything and _anything_ else. Sakura Haruno? …She's just a girl to him. An _annoying_ girl. An annoying girl without a drop of Uchiha blood in her veins. I'm… not important…_

Sakura clutched her mug with her hands in frustration. Her thoughts only reinforced her decision. She couldn't be expected to put up with this crap anymore!

Sasuke carefully watched Sakura's body language. He could tell that she was emotionally exhausted and he couldn't really blame her either. She had been through a lot of drama in the past three years and half of it had happened within the past few hours. A dull twinge of guilt ate at his heartstrings but he quickly set the feeling aside. He would have been willing enough to help her through this whole thing if she had only asked him for help! But she was damn stubborn and he was bad at communicating.

As she set her mug on the coffee table, she stood and mumbled, "I should go. I have things to wrap up at the hospital."

Sasuke sighed. Now she was upset with him. All over again. "Sakura -"

"Don't even bother."

The Uchiha didn't flinch as he heard his front door slam. Instead the young man supported his elbows on his knees and rested his head in one of his hands. Quite honestly, he was tired of all the fighting.

Apparently, she had grown a short fuse while he was gone – not like she hadn't always had it with Naruto but still, it was weird to have her blow up at him – and he was getting tired of being on the receiving end of her fiery temper. He didn't want to fight with her anymore, it was pointless. Fighting and keeping hidden secrets just made both of them miserable, upset and angry. It was screwing up their teamwork, their companionship and any shot he had at developing a deeper relationship with her. Well Sasuke Uchiha had had enough.

Right then and there, Sasuke decided that there would be no more sneaking around and hiding secrets. He would make sure that there would be no more conflict between them. If it took two to tango then he would just start to move to a different dance. He wasn't willing to play these games anymore – not when no one won.

He could fix things! He would just… need to talk to her. Make sure she understood what he meant by his actions. Communicate.

Psh. Good luck Uchiha!

* * *

A cabinet drawer slammed in protest of being treated so roughly by a particularly upset kunoichi and spat out the papers it contained in revenge.

"Damn it!"

All of the supplies on the ninja's cherry wood desk rattled and scattered in fear of her hard fists coming down on them.

"Damn him!"

Unfortunately, they couldn't escape her grasp nor could they stop themselves from flying across the office room. All they could do was scream in shattering pain as they made contact with the walls or hospital tiles.

"Damn it all to hell!"

Sakura Haruno had had enough. She was sick of fighting with everyone and she was sick of feeling this stressed and miserable. For crying out loud, she was screaming and throwing things around like a child in a temper tantrum. _God_, she hated herself. She _had_ hated herself for the past three years – she hadn't _been_ Sakura Haruno for the past three years. Instead she had been trying to be the mother that she should have never been allowed to be and tried to raise a child – an Uchiha child no less – by herself and without the support of her friends, comrades, or teachers. She had burdened herself and had made herself this sickening… _thing_. A thing that fought and hurt and preferred isolation over friendship.

Well she wouldn't be that thing anymore. She would fix it all and she would start over. She would take a deep breath, get her mojo back and become re-introduced to the old Sakura Haruno; the old kunoichi who spent precious time with her teammates, who loved her job, who hung out with her friends, who spent time with other people, the old Sakura who _was happy_. She wanted to be that Sakura.

She could fix things! She would just… need to clear things up with Sasuke first of all. And then apologize to everyone else she had ignored and pushed aside. Of course, she would need to talk to Seiji as well and… she didn't know what else… but she needed to see him! She needed to… interact.

Psh. Good luck Haruno!

* * *

The silence that hung between the two Uchihas matured at a rapid rate. It grew and grew and kept growing until Sasuke took a blade and cut through the silence.

"I told you to be ready to train. Why aren't you?"

Keeping his eyes shut and clutching at the bed sheets as though they would shield him from his uncle, Seiji replied, "I told you I didn't feel like training and I still don't."

"And _I _told _you _that I didn't care what you felt like and I still don't. Now open your eyes."

Seiji stiffened in fear. He didn't want to open his eyes. Not when they were still red. Those eyes… they scared him. Through the red eyes, he could… _see_ things. Things he had never seen before. He could make out each and every detail of any object, animal or person. He could measure their level of strength and when he saw someone at a lower level than himself he felt… haughty. He felt confident, and cocky, and superior, and _powerful_.

So, so, so powerful.

But then he would see someone at a level above his own strength and he was filled with a strange sort of rage. He wished to be better than everyone around him; he wanted power to become the strongest shinobi of them all. And he could only become strongest by defeating all of the strong ones above him. That required a battle and at the thought of a fight, Seiji practically felt himself salivate at the thought of feeling the other person bleed, of making that liquid life drain from their body, of forcing their breath away from their lungs, of ensuring victory by stealing their life away.

It was an overwhelming sensation and poor Seiji had been terrified. Instinctively, he had run towards the place he knew was reserved for only himself, his uncle and his make-shift brother; the place where he could stay away from people and find the ones who could help him. But the clearing was empty when he had come across it and Seiji had felt despair parallel to the day of his ka-san's death. Not knowing what else to do, the boy had decided to wait for his trusted family to find him and he had lain down to sleep.

Quickly, the little boy discovered that if he kept his eyes closed, the red wasn't as suffocating. If only he couldn't _see_ other people he didn't feel the dreaded intent to kill, to rip, to slash, to destroy, to dominate. And so, even when his uncle had found him and brought him to his house, Seiji had kept his eyes closed.

"Seiji," Sasuke said in an aggravated tone. "I need you to look at me."

Seiji shook his head. He had already experienced the overwhelming lust for blood and did not want to chance hurting anyone, least of all his beloved uncle. "I don't wanna."

Seiji gave a small gasp as a strong hand grasped his shoulder and a voice insisted, "Look at me."

"No!"

"Seiji," Sasuke tried to be gentle with the obviously frightened boy. "I need you to trust me."

The boy did not reply. Nor did his body loosen from its stiff shape. He wanted to show his uncle that he trusted him, he did! But he was scared of opening his eyes, had been scared since last night when he had yelled at Sakura and suddenly saw her as a challenging target. Once his brain had registered her intense chakra levels he had wanted to test his limits with her; had wanted to fight her and beat her down so she could not stand in his way of becoming the most powerful. At the sudden burst of rash emotion Seiji had panicked and ended up running as far as he could.

"Seiji listen to me," the strong hand started to rub the tense arm attached to Seiji's stiff shoulder in a comforting manner. "I promise I won't let anything happen – not to you or me or anyone else."

"How can you promise me that?"

"You will need to open your eyes to find out."

He was still scared – Seiji could admit that much – but he also wanted so badly to trust his uncle, wanted so badly to show him that he did trust him.

_C'mon Seiji, just open your eyes. It'll be okay, he's oji-san, and he can handle whatever the red is. He's always made things better – he's made _you_ better. He can make this better too._

Abandoning his inner encouragement, Seiji started to crack open his eyes.

The sunlight was the first to invade his vision and Seiji had to blink several times before his eyes adjusted to the unexpected brightness of the room. As soon as Seiji could keep his eyes open without being assaulted by the sun's harsh light waves, he traced the hand on his shoulder to the face of his uncle who was seated on the edge of the bed – much like he was earlier that morning.

Seiji scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. He wasn't sure what to make of the change of circumstances. When he faced his uncle, he didn't feel the need to engage in combat to prove who was stronger. He could make out a few details about his uncle that he hadn't noticed with his regular eyes: a small scar above Sasuke's left eyebrow, the layered bangs that fell in his eyes, the way his mouth was neither a frown nor a smile but something in between… little details that had previously gone unnoticed. But there was one detail that came made Seiji's red eyes widen in a mix of jumbled emotions.

His uncle's eyes mirrored his own. Instead of the usual coal black the boy had become accustomed to seeing, they were red. Deep, bloody, overpowering, crimson _red_.

"Wh-What?"

Sasuke offered no explanation to his young nephew. He only held a constant, non-threatening gaze as Sharingan clashed with Sharingan.

"Y-Your eyes…" Seiji slowly escaped the bed sheets and sat up in the bed. "They're… they're like mine…"

Sasuke remained silent – even when Seiji reached out with his small hands and placed them on the sides of his temple. Judging by the way Seiji kept examining his eyes, Sasuke guessed the boy was assessing whether his eyes were real or not. After another minute of examination, Seiji released the grip he had on his uncle and fell back on his butt with wide eyes. He then opened his mouth to ask the question that had been plaguing his mind for the better part of the past twelve hours.

"If you have them too, then I'm not a freak right?"

Sasuke could almost feel his face break into a small smile and he gave a light chuckle at the boy's worries. Sasuke maneuvered a hand to affectionately ruffle Seiji's dark violet head of hair.

"No Seiji, you're not."

Throwing a disapproved glance towards his uncle, Seiji raised his hands to rearrange his hair so that it didn't fall in his eyes so much and asked a new question.

"What do they mean then?"

Sasuke made sure to stare into his nephew's red eyes as he replied, "It means that we're family."

* * *

**Author's Note: **As I started chapter 10 I came to a startling conclusion: this story is pretty much past it's midpoint. There aren't gonna be too many more chapters! Le gasp! OoO So if there is anything that you would like to see happen in my story then NOW is the time to tell me via private message or review!!! I don't even mean telling me that you want a specific event to happen. _If all you want is SasukexSeiji fluff or Naruto or Ino to make a reappearance then LET ME KNOW!!!_ Mind you, I can't promise that your ideas will make it into this story but I am always open to new and fresh ideas. Thanks for reading guys! ^^


	10. Final Secrets

**Author's Note:** Yo! So apparently, I won't be discontinuing this fic. I don't think I'll be satisfied with it when it's over but I suppose you never know until you try, huh? And I know I'll expect a bunch of hate mail (or at least ones in CAPS lock) for leaving this story for so long. Five months is a pretty long time to go without a chapter. Well, at least it's here now. But know this ever-faithful readers! It might be a while until Chapter Eleven comes up so don't get too hopeful.  
Also, I don't exactly know what to think of this chapter... I feel like I have too many problems in the story and I can't seem to fix any of them... Too bad Sakura's the one who pays for these unresolved problems! :P Please don't throw things at me.  
Anyway, thanks for reviewing my last chapter go out to (thank God I write this down) MyUsedRomance, rao hyuga, S.A. Hikari, minniemousemom, XxXTigerstarzXxX, The DANgeROUS one, darkreverie13, B.U.F.F, Tiger Priestess, sasusaku4ever, and the blanket. I will be very much surprised if I see any of you review for this chapter, but pleasently so. :)

**Disclaimer:** I tried to wait it out for five months, but I still don't own Naruto. :P

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**Chapter Ten: Final Secrets**

Opposites collided and met in a silent show-down. Both parties knew they had gathered for a common goal but that fact did not make the first meeting less uncomfortable. Both were caught up with assessing impressions and comparing the other person to the little information that they knew about each other. After a time, the examinations were put aside – the mistrust still present – and the purpose of their meeting was laid open.

"This needs to stop."

"I am aware of that."

A blonde eye brow was raised suspiciously. "Are you? Really?"

Bright orbs from both directions clashed in a glare. "Despite whatever your preconceptions may be, I have never wished ill of her nor of him; and nor of you."

"Well excuse me for not jumping into your arms at first sight."

"You believe that I held or still hold less-than-pure intentions towards her?"

"No, I think you're a weirdo."

Daggers flew from smoldering eyes. "Be that as it may, I believe we did not meet to toss insults back and forth."

"Got that right," A brief silence cast over the small party of two and the gentle wind toyed with strands of both gold and cerulean. The same colors clashed visually as both Naruto and Araki continued their minor glaring fest. Naruto continued his little comment. "I want to know what Sakura-chan's been up to for the past three years."

Araki barely blinked before he proceeded to lay out the details to the rather forward and blatant blonde. He himself had seen the negative effects that Sakura's stress had caused and he wanted to at least be a small part of her cure. He only hoped that he was right in thinking that telling the Uzumaki everything would help and not earn him an earth-shattering punch to the head. Over the past few years, Sakura had only had him as a confidant; he knew all her secrets and her thoughts and frustrations of the past three years. But he had been unaware that Sakura had never entrusted those feelings and secrets to any of her other friends. Had Araki known she was isolating herself to Seiji and the hospital, he would have confronted the Uzumaki for help much earlier.

"Sakura has been -"

"It's Sakura-_san _to you."

Araki threw his eyes towards the heavens and made a small prayer for patience, tolerance and self-control. This was not going to be easy.

The gentle wind that played with the two men's hair had grown bored and discreetly exited the scene; only to blow across a separate field some distance away, where three people stood: a woman, a man, and a child.

* * *

Shielding her face from her hair as it blew in the wind, Sakura Haruno fought to keep the butterflies from escaping their trap in her abdomen. She had known that any kind of confrontation would be unpleasant for her but she had given it a full day just in case. Alas, the situation wasn't any less uncomfortable than as she first imagined it.

Sasuke Uchiha was staring at Sakura. When she had made her appearance in the training field, he had first been surprised that she had not stormed up to him earlier, then surprised that she had at all. Looking her over, Sasuke concluded that she didn't look well. Her eyes were bloodshot and irritated, her cheeks were void of any color, her hair was dry and flat, her face had 'exhaustion' written all over it, and she looked skinnier than he remembered her. Already, Sasuke could feel his protective instincts urging him to go over to her – to help her. But his stubborn Uchiha pride kept his feet grounded.

Seiji – was he a Haruno or an Uchiha? – wasn't sure what to think. His uncle and he had just been training together, mastering his Sharingan, when _she_ had interrupted. Seiji hadn't even noticed that his Sharingan automatically deactivated when he saw who was walking towards him – he later concluded that his bloodline ability no longer recognized her as a threat.

"Sasuke." Sakura barked after minutes of intense silence. "Can I talk to you?" Sasuke's only affirmation was him walking towards her – keeping Seiji out of earshot. Sakura took a deep breath when Sasuke gave her a certain look; he wanted her to start.

"I'm… Listen, I really messed up – with both of you. And I um… I mean I just lost my temper you know, which I know is no excuse but…Well, that's why I wanted to say…" Sakura sighed. This was much harder than she imagined. But Sakura wasn't known for backing away from an uncomfortable situation. So, looking directly into Sasuke's eyes, she simply said, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." He muttered before quickly breaking eye contact. He had had just as bad a time with saying that as she did. God, what was wrong with them?

"You… You are?"

Sasuke nodded. "I should have told you about Seiji and me." Sakura mentally agreed. "It was wrong of me to keep it a secret from you for years."

Sakura flinched. "I understand. Sometimes, secrets just have to be kept hidden."

Sasuke looked at Sakura. She didn't look at him. "Sakura?" She backed away at the sound of her name. Sasuke grew angry; something was going on with her and she hadn't told him. "Is there something else you're not telling me?" His voice practically hissed.

"Yes." She mumbled.

"Tell me what it is." It was a command. Like one a master would give to his pet. It disgusted her – Sakura was nobody's pet.

"No." She rebelled.

Taking a breath, Sasuke tried – _really_ tried – to calm down; he was impatient as it was. "Sakura -"

"No – Sasuke!" She yelled while snapping up her eyes to meet his, "I'm not going to tell you!"

"Why not?" He seethed.

"Because you don't need to know!"

Perhaps logic would win her over. "You're still my teammate, Sakura. If something is troubling you then I have every right to know what it is!"

"_You_ have every right?" Then again, Sasuke Uchiha had been known to be wrong. "_You_, who have been working behind my back for _years_, have a right to know what's going on in _my_ life?! You have _no_ right! No right _at all_!! _You_ wouldn't understand!"

"Try me!!"

SLAP.

Freeze.

Glare.

The two ninja had no idea how much time they spent staring each other down. They had lost all sense but survival instinct within the tense atmosphere between them. Both were just waiting for the other to make a move, a flinch, a twitch… anything to instigate a physical fight – where only one of them could walk away alive.

"Sakura-chan!!!" came a distant cry. It wasn't very loud yet but it was enough to break the two angry ninja from their death glares as they both turned to where they could see a spot of orange in the treetops coming closer towards them.

Just before Naruto got within audio range Sasuke quickly muttered to Sakura, "This isn't over."

Sakura stared at Sasuke with a watchful eye. Was he threatening her?

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!!!!!!" Sakura didn't even have time to brace herself before Naruto back-handed her and sent her flying across the field. Landing harshly on her left arm and rolling back another couple meters to collide with a tree's trunk, Sakura found she couldn't move or breathe – the wind had been royally knocked out of her. She could also make out the pain ebbing from her left arm; it wasn't broken but it also was not happy about having to break her fall. Her right arm wasn't much better off, pinned between her and the tree's rough roots.

"Mom!" Sakura didn't even realize that she had flown to where Seiji had been standing. She didn't notice her adopted son kneel beside her and hesitantly reach out towards her nor did she take notice of the tears welling up in his eyes.

"What the _hell_ Naruto!!!!" a harsh voice screamed. Sakura's dizzied mind recognized it as Sasuke's. Slowly opening her eyes, Sakura was able to make out the blurry form of Sasuke activating a Chidori and blocking her from Naruto's red-eyed fury. She could barely make out the animalistic growls, snarls, and threats being exchanged between her teammates but she could hear them all the same. The next thing she heard was the familiar ring of the swirling Rasengan. Sakura winced as she was reminded of a beautiful day on the hospital roof. They were scaring her now just like they had then. This had to stop. They were stronger now. If their two attacks clashed… Sakura shuddered to think about it – especially with Seiji so close by.

Managing to raise her left arm and letting out a painful cry to stop – just like the last time – Sakura channeled her chakra and slammed her palm to the ground, effectively splitting it into several pieces and forcing the two ninja to create some distance between them.

Her attack had created the desired effect; both lethal techniques vanished and the wind blew peacefully once more. However, the raw rage that was contained in both men's eyes hadn't disappeared – both still glared at the other with blood red eyes.

"Have you _lost your mind_?" Sasuke seethed. "That was _Sakura_ you attacked, you _idiot_!"

"_That_ wasn't Sakura-chan," Sasuke hissed but Naruto continued, "The Sakura-chan that I know, would have _never_ done that to herself."

"_What_ the _hell_ are you talking about?"

"Trust me Sasuke, you really _don't_ wanna know."

"Stop it, Naruto," Sakura wheezed. Both men turned their heads to see their friend standing on her feet. Her right arm clutched her left and she was bent over with having trouble breathing but she was standing. Seiji had a tentative hand on her waist and the other in front of her, as if he were afraid she were about to fall and was prepared to catch her. Seeing her in such a condition, both pairs of eyes immediately returned to their original hues. Even after so many years, Sakura was most important to them.

Rushing to her side, Sasuke carefully touched and examined her body for injuries. "How badly are you hurt?"

"Don't fuss, Sasuke." Sakura attempted to brush him off, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Naruto interrupted. Looking at their teammate, Sasuke and Sakura tried to determine exactly what had gone wrong with their friend. A cold but simmering hate shone in the man's blue eyes and they were zeroed in on Sakura. Naruto continued, "I don't think you've been fine in years." Sakura's green eyes widened in shock and fear. He sounded as if he knew that… But he couldn't have found out!

"Just what has gotten into you, Naruto?" Sasuke defended. Sasuke may have, moments ago, been in a confrontation with Sakura but he definitely did _not_ like the look in Naruto's eyes – those eyes that had never directed such hatred at such a close friend.

Naruto ignored Sasuke's question. "So whose is it Sakura-chan? Anyone we know? Or was it just some random guy?"

Sakura shrunk into herself. So he _did_ know… "I…" but she couldn't muster any further response.

"Or is it possible that you don't know? That you just slept around so often you lost track of them?"

Fury caused her to react. "I never slept around!" Tears nearly came to her eyes. She couldn't believe that Naruto was accusing her of being a whore. Pulling away from those who had a hold on her, Sakura distanced herself from Naruto and his cruel voice. Being irrational, Sakura shook her head as if it would make this unfamiliar Naruto go away, "You were never supposed to find out!"

"Well I _have_ found out Sakura!! And I want a damn explanation!!" Shrinking back in fear, Sakura shut her eyes and remained silent. She wouldn't answer. She didn't want to answer. She _couldn't_ answer. Not in these circumstances with these people. Not when Naruto had left out the –chan to her name for the first time.

"Sakura…" Sasuke's soft but threatening voice forced Sakura's eyes and ears open. His head was bowed; eyes covered by his raven bangs. "What is he talking about?"

"So you didn't tell Sasuke either? What a surprise." Naruto spat. Sakura just shook her head. She knew there was no way out of this confrontation, no where she could run or hide. But she never meant for them to find out… not this way…

Naruto shook with anger. Why wasn't she talking? "Do you have nothing to say?! To me – to _Sasuke_? Who the hell have you become Sakura?" Naruto's voice finally quieted. But hearing the pure, sharp, cold _pain_ in his voice grated worse on Sakura's ears than his anger. She had hurt him. She had hurt _Naruto_. "Are you… Are you even Sakura-chan anymore?"

Sakura didn't have an answer. She only stared at Naruto, pleading with her eyes for him not to walk away from her; begging him not to break her. But she saw the torn look he gave her, read the message in his eyes quite clearly and knew he was going to turn away. Sakura let her tears fall as Naruto's unspoken message rang in her head, _'You broke me first.'_

Realizing she wasn't going to speak, Naruto scoffed and turned to walk away when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He had almost forgotten that Sasuke was in the field too. "Naruto, what is going on?"

Looking directly into his brother's eyes, Naruto simply said, "She's pregnant."

* * *

Seiji was still very much in shock by the time his uncle brought him inside the house. Muttering to himself and constantly running hands through his hair, his uncle had managed to tell Seiji that he was going to make dinner before striding into the kitchen. Hoping to be distracted by watching him cook, Seiji sat at the kitchen's table and lost himself in thought.

Seiji couldn't believe what had recently transpired. Even at his young age of eight, he was able to follow most of the conversation and – from what he had gathered – he would be a big brother soon. This excited Seiji just as much as it frightened him. He had always wanted a sibling – he imagined having a brother more often than a sister but still – however, Naruto and his oji-san hadn't taken the news well. Even now, Seiji could tell that his oji-san was cutting up vegetables with a little more force than was necessary. But why were they angry?

The boy remembered when he was last angry. He too had been mad at Sakura, his replacement mother. Only, he had been mad at her because…

Seiji's little eyes widened in realization. "That's why…"

"Hm?" Sasuke looked at his nephew over his shoulder, thinking he was talking to him.

Seiji answered absently, "She wanted to move out, live in the town where my kaa-san is buried. I thought she wanted to take me away from you and I got mad. That's what we were fighting over but… I guess she just wanted to make sure the baby was safe. I never even guessed…"

Sasuke tensed. "Sakura wanted to move out?"

Seiji seemed to finally notice that he had been voicing his thoughts out loud and was startled at his uncle's tone of voice. Nodding hesitantly, Seiji replied, "Yeah, at the end of this week. That's why I ran away."

Clenching his fists, Sasuke tightly shut his eyes and began cursing Sakura under his breath. How much longer was she going to hide from him? How many secrets had she kept from him? How many years had he been cut out from her life? Why did he _care_?

Eyes opening to red – deep, bloody, overpowering, crimson _red_ – Sasuke marched towards the front door.

"Oji-san?"

"I won't be long."

"But what about -"

"_Stay here_, Seiji."

"Tou-san!"

The door shut with a sound of finality.

"…You said you wouldn't let the red hurt me, or you, or anybody else. Are you breaking your promise?"

* * *

"I will expect monthly reports."

"Of course, Shishou."

"…"

"If that is all, I'll leave to prepare."

"I heard that you planned to retire from your position as Head of Konoha's Hospital."

"That is correct."

"May I inquire as to _why_?"

"The hospital will need someone to fill in my position when I am away."

"A temporary replacement would have sufficed. Why retire completely?"

"…"

"Running away is not going to solve things Sakura."

"I am not hoping to solve them."

"You are happy with your present conditions?"

"I fail to see how that is of relevance."

"…"

"Permission to be dismissed, Hokage-sama."

"…Permission granted."

The door shut with a sound of finality.

"And all this time, I thought it was Sasuke who was most like Orochimaru…"

* * *

**Author's Note: **And that's all folks! (Psst! Tune in next time for the end of 'The Training of the Child' and long-awaited kiss.)


	11. Another New Beginning

**Author's Note: **First, I wanna apologize for my lousy update schedule. It sucks and I know it, and I know just about every author's schedule are on par with mine (some, however, manage regular updating very well). But whatever. I just want you to know, that even though there may be some large gaps between updates, I'm always writing. Mostly with you guys in mind.

Second, I wanna apologize for myself. I've been losing confidence in this story and it's [lack of a] plot and I'm not having so much fun with it anymore. And that's really not fair to readers like yourselves. I've thought about gritting my teeth and pushing through the story until I got it done, but I don't think that would result in my best effort or work, and that's not fair to you guys either. So, I'm kind of at a loss of what to do. Anyone got some words of advice? Or even ideas for how the story could develop further? I think I've hit a standstill.

Also, I'd like to apologize for the kiss scene here. Looking back, I had planned and made it seem like it was gonna be a big thing. Turns out it wasn't. So I'm really sorry if anyone turns out to be disappointed with my crappy fluff/romance. I was obviously not born with the fluff talent.

**Disclaimer: **Sad to say, I own nothing of Naruto. Seiji doesn't count; he's not part of the original Narutoverse anyway.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Another New Beginning**

Silently, Sakura was relieved that the moon wasn't full. It would have been too much like destiny if it had been, and destiny was not in the habit of being kind to her. Nor to _him_, really, which was another reason to thank the powers-that-be for the shape of the waning gibbous – just a few days after the full moon.

Perhaps it was symbolic, a sign that they were beyond that night so many years ago.

Or that they were too late to fix whatever had broken between them.

Refusing to face him, just as he had then, Sakura breezily said, "I never thought our positions would ever be reversed, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke almost flinched. Sasuke-kun. Not Sasuke. He hadn't been Sasuke-kun, in a very long time.

"I'm not here to beg for you to stay."

Sakura smiled a cruel, reminiscent smile. In remembrance of the night she knew they both remembered – were remember_ing_ – she taunted, "Going to declare your unwavering love for me instead?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes into a glare. He didn't like that she was mocking herself and her feelings for him.

"Not tonight."

Sakura ignored the twinge of her heartstrings at his choice of words. Sasuke had always spoken carefully – it was not his nature to say or imply things accidentally. Not even when they were twelve, when they had stood on this very road with the village wall looming somewhere ahead, did he ever speak without purpose. For that reason, she had puzzled many a night over what exactly he had thanked her for. She had never solved that riddle.

The scene was worthy of a one-star sap film, actually. True, while the moon was not the same, the time of season was. Though not the same date, Sakura realized with relief. A gentle breeze, accompanied with small leaves, blew along the one road in and out of Konoha; it played with strands of black and pink and maneuvered around two strong backs – one blank, the other sturdy with supplies.

Two people.

The same two people.

Only this time, he was watching her back.

"Then why did you come?" She asked.

"For answers."

Sakura gave a hollow chuckle.

"I should have known," she spat. "Answers are all you've ever wanted out of life; answers and revenge!"

Only after she quieted did he ask his first question, "Who's the father?"

"Why is that important?" Sakura snapped.

Sasuke glared, unappreciative of her attitude. "Just answer the question Sakura."

She stayed silent for a while. Then she looked down, clutched her stomach with a hand, and muttered, "It doesn't matter."

"The hell it doesn't -"

"No – Sasuke!" Sakura screeched as she viciously spun around to face him. He nearly recoiled from the look in her eyes – as if a thousand bonfires were blazing just below their emerald tone, and all of them were aimed to burn him alive.

"It _doesn't _matter – not at all! And do you know _why_? Do you know why the hell it _does not matter_ who knocked me up? _Do you!_"

When he didn't respond, Sakura ran her hands over her face and through her hair in a mess and tangle of emotions, including frustration, sorrow, rage and helplessness. When that didn't help calm her down she grabbed a handful of shuriken from her pack. Not even bothering with aim, she thrust them as hard as she could in his general direction as she continued with her eruption of emotion.

"Do you even _have a guess_ as to why I didn't tell you or Naruto what was going on?"

A shuriken rebounded off the stone path.

"Why I kept the men I thought of as _brothers_, so far out of my damn business?"

One stuck in a tree.

"Why I did nothing but _cry_ after Naruto told you I was pregnant?"

Another cut a strand of Sasuke's hair.

"Why I didn't even tell _Seiji _that he would be a big brother in a couple months?"

One more would have opened his chest if he hadn't activated his Sharingan and dodged.

"Do you! Do you even have the _slightest clue_!"

The last one nicked Sasuke's shoulder as it flew by.

By now Sakura was breathing very heavily and Sasuke was still recovering from her seemingly-sudden outburst. How long had she been harboring all of that emotion? Days? Weeks? Years? Too long, he decided, when she next burst into tears and light sobs.

Not wasting time wondering if she would even let him – or why the hell he was doing it in the first place – Sasuke came to her side and coaxed her into his arms. Sakura didn't even put up a fight. She just fell into Sasuke's chest, gripped his shirt in both hands, and wept.

It felt so good to finally let go of everything from the past three years. Sakura felt like with every tear she shed, the weight of another secret lifted away from her shoulders. She relished in the feeling of Sasuke's arms around her, but not because she had always been in love with him. It wouldn't have mattered if the embrace belonged to Rock Lee, or Ino, or even Hana, Kiba's sister that she had met once at the hospital. Just the feel of someone's arms surrounding her, taking care of her, telling her it was going to be _alright_… it was liberating!

But with the release of tears, Sakura knew the release of secrets must accompany it. She had to tell Sasuke everything.

No more secrets. No more holding back.

"I lost it," she whispered.

As though a static shock had run its course through his body, Sasuke tensed his every muscle. What was she saying? What did she lose?

Looking down at her, pink head still buried in his chest, he carefully asked, "Sakura?"

"I lost it," she whispered again, "the baby. About two weeks ago." Her grip on his shirt tightened and she pressed herself against him as if she were trying to disappear into his body – as if the weight of her despair was just too much for her body to support. He gripped her back, trying to grasp what it was that she was revealing to him.

"So, you're not pregnant."

Sakura whimpered as if trying to hold back a wail but confirmed his resolution with a nod against his chest. And even though she was in tears, Sasuke couldn't help the small bubble of relief swell up inside him. She wasn't pregnant. She wouldn't be tied to some mystery guy. She was fine; safe.

So why was she so torn up about this miscarriage?

Slowly, Sasuke muttered, "I don't understand."

The only warning he had, was the way she tightened up her whole body, like a spring wound up to jump. In another fit of unfathomable fury, Sakura let out a cry and used all her might to shove Sasuke away from her. She didn't even let Sasuke recover his stumbling feet before she began screeching again.

"No! You don't! And that is _exactly_ the problem, Sasuke! You _don't _understand! You have _never _understood!"

Breathing hard, Sakura kept a steady glare on her teammate. She was surprised that his face was giving away so much: his shock, his confusion, his will to help her, his ignorance. It was enough to break away her anger but that only left her with despair. She was sad and hurt and didn't know how to make it stop.

Tears fell shamelessly from her eyes as she began her confession; it looked like things would repeat themselves after all. She wrapped her arms around herself and sunk her head and shoulders – Sasuke vaguely thought it was as if she were trying to build herself a cocoon in which to hide from all the world, all the hurt. Just as he had tried to do many, many years ago when the sight of blood had welcomed him home, into his nightmare of a life. Was that what she was feeling now? Was that how upset she was?

"For most of my life, I've claimed to love you, Sasuke. And, for a while, being with you was as far as my dreams went. But… even more than I wanted you, I've always wanted children; a family to call my own; I want to be a mother.

When we found Seiji, I thought it was my chance to make that dream a reality. I thought that, I could make things work and become the mother I always wanted to be. But I failed – miserably. I couldn't be a proper mother to him and it just _killed_ me. So one night, I went out drinking…"

She paused, as if letting the silence tell that part of the story. Sasuke listened even more raptly than he had been, but Sakura shook her head as if shaking away a bad memory.

"He was already gone by the time I woke up. I don't know who it was and I don't ever want to know but… then I found out I was pregnant and, for a while, I was scared. It took me a week to get familiar with the idea that I was responsible for another life – that a tiny heartbeat was growing inside me, trusting me to protect it – and I thought… I thought that it could be my chance to correct my mistakes. I could try being a mother again, this time with a child that was truly _mine_."

She breathed in deep and closed her eyes, like she was aching to feel the way she had at that moment. As if she were hoping that she could miraculously get it all back.

'_Of course,' _Sasuke realized, _'she's just lost her family. The one she says that she's always wanted. Only, she doesn't have anyone to blame but herself; she can't pin this on a brother or sister.'_

Perhaps he understood more than she expected.

"But, to start over completely, I needed second chances in other areas of my life as well. That's why I was going to move away this week. I wanted a new home for my new life with my new family. And then, I lost it; I lost _him_."

Him!

Oh, God.

A son - Sakura had been carrying a _son_. The heir to another man's family.

Short of breath, Sasuke tried his best to reign in his emotions: his fury that this had happened to her, his confusion as to where things had gone wrong between them, his fear that he had come so close to losing her, the panic he felt because he might lose her anyway – everything he felt, everything _she_ made him feel, he tried to put it all away, push it all aside. Because it was honestly, _driving him insane_. And he knew what insanity did to him; made him impulsive, uncontrollable, and dangerous. Made him do things he'd regret the next morning. And he couldn't risk that.

He didn't want to hurt her again.

"So why leave?"

Sakura, who had composed most of herself by then, seemed startled by the question.

"Why move out? Why give up your life here? Why abandon your home when you've lost everything else?"

Sakura saddened, but she didn't tear up. That she _had_ lost everything she held dear was a truth she had accepted long ago.

"Because I haven't lost 'else'; I've just lost everything."

Denial shone in Sasuke's eyes and Sakura had to look away. She didn't want him to directly see how pathetic she had become.

"Everything," Sasuke questioned. "What about Ino? What about Seiji – your job as a medic?"

"Ino… won't ever forgive me for not telling her any of this. She'd sooner cleave my head off than let me explain unless I let her simmer for a while. Seiji has you now and we both know I've never really been his mother – you'll do a better job of raising him anyway. And the hospital has already replaced me. I personally trained Araki specifically for that purpose."

"What about Naruto?"

Now Sakura teared up.

"I can't… think about that right now," she confessed.

"And what about me?"

They both froze for a moment. Sasuke nearly kicked himself. It was impulsive; a question asked in the spur of the moment, without any thought or consideration into what was said or why. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid!

"What about you?" she whispered.

What about him, indeed.

Neither of them said anything for the longest time; only stared at each other, daring the other to make a move. Sasuke supposed that the ball was technically in his court, but before he could think of anything to say, Sakura began to turn towards the gates – began to turn away from him.

"Sakura!"

"Sasuke," and even though it was a whisper, it carried over his exclamation and he silenced immediately. "When you stood here, you told me that new paths had opened before us. That you leaving, was just a new beginning. And you were right, weren't you?"

Sasuke couldn't speak. Although, he wasn't sure she wanted him to.

"We're all different now – we've been different ever since. And if I'm _truly_ honest Sasuke, I'll tell you that I don't like who I am now. I want to be… different from different. So I'm starting another new beginning: for myself; and for you; and for Naruto."

The smile on her face when she looked over her shoulder at him was what surprised him most of all. It was small, but true and free; it was the best she had looked in a long time. And that made him understand that she really wanted this, really needed it. This new beginning – she needed it to be happy, to remember what happiness felt like. He wanted her eyes to sparkle again.

"Surely you can understand that, ne Sasuke?"

In place of a verbal reply, Sasuke began to move. As he closed the distance between them step by step, Sakura turned her whole body around to face him properly and when he was close enough he embraced her with sturdy arms. She gave a light laugh and hugged him close, all the more reassured that she was doing the right thing for everybody – that this change would help more than it hurt.

"Will you ever come back?" Sasuke mumbled in her hair.

Without pulling back, Sakura nodded. "I'll have to, once I complete the mission."

"Mission?" He pulled back to face her but his arms trapped her still. "_That's_ why you're leaving?"

Sakura shrugged. "It's more of an excuse to leave than anything."

"How long is it supposed to take?"

"She never gave me a time limit but it's expected to take me a couple years at least. I'm meant to send monthly progress reports."

Sasuke felt a part of his heart sink down his chest. They had only just seemed to be reconciling with each other and she would now vanish from the next few years of his life.

"That's…" Impossible, unacceptable, cruel. Sasuke sighed, "A long time."

"I know."

Suddenly, impulsively, Sakura reached up, pecked Sasuke on his cheek and then gently caressed his startled face. She smiled. It was the first time, in a long time that she felt free of worry and stress. She almost laughed but was too busy examining Sasuke's face – it would be a long time before she got to see it again.

"Thank you, Sasuke." Somehow she knew he'd let her go, without struggle, without complaint. She was infinitely glad that this meeting would not end as the first one had. She wasn't sure if she could haul his dead weight up on the bench. "For understanding. And for seeing me off. I'm really glad you came tonight."

And though he would never say it, he was glad too. Glad that she hadn't left when things between them were still in a mess. Glad that they had been able to resolve their issues with each other. But while they were back on good terms, it wasn't quite the note Sasuke wanted her to leave on…

"I should go," she said, beginning to pull out of his embrace. He stopped her.

Giving him a very pointed look, Sakura half-complained, "Sasuke, I really should be half way across the Fire country right now. I've got a lot of -"

It was then that he kissed her.

Sakura had been half-expecting him to, but she was very surprised at how… _natural_ it felt. She had always read that kissing was sparks, and fire, and other-worldly. This was surprisingly… pleasant, sweet, and easy. Like she and Sasuke were sharing a secret, telling it in some foreign language that only they could understand.

They both found that they had a lot left to tell each other.

* * *

A cry of "Tou-san!" was the only warning he received before a small, dark hurricane barreled him to the floor when he walked through the front door. More out of breath than he had expected, it took Sasuke a minute to realize that it had been Seiji who had ambushed him. Unfortunately, that was all he was allowed to register before he was bombarded with questions.

"Where did you go? Did you see Mom? What's going on now? Is Naruto-nii still mad? Why were you gone so long? Is everyone okay with everything? What about -"

"Hold on a minute, Seiji," Sasuke quieted him with a ruffle to his hair and a pat to his shoulder. "Try breathing between questions."

Seiji breathed but before he could ask more of him, Sasuke quickly filled him in, "Your Mom's left the village and she'll be gone for a while."

"She's gone?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Oh. Was she still upset?"

"She's better than she was. She just needs a break, and when she's ready, she'll come back."

"And then what?"

Sasuke thought over his words carefully, as he had always done, and settled with, "And then, we'll start a new beginning."

* * *

**End of Part Two**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Yeah. Not what you were expecting, I know.


	12. The Tide of Time

**Author's Note: **Hello all. Verrrrrry long time no see. Which is completely my fault. But I think I probably hate myself more than you hate me, so... yeah. Here begins Parto Threeo! This is going to be(?) my favorite part I think; mostly cuz this will much better fit my evolved writing skills and style. I hope the change isn't too dramatic for you. But feel free to throw things at me.

THERE ARE SO MANY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS IN THIS PART, I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU. But there will be** links** on my Profile to pictures of them (I have FIVE oc's now. FIVE.) and also the original Team 7 in "new" costumes (not that you or I knew what they were dressed in during Parts I and II O.o).

I cannot tell you when this will be updated again. Nor can I tell you how long until this story is finally completed.

**Disclaimer: **Not the owner/creator of characters you recognize. Nor did I draw any of the pics you may or may not view - I only borrow and colour change.

* * *

**Part Three: The Mission of the Child**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: The Tide of Time**

The sound of the closing door first alerted Sasuke Uchiha that his son had returned home. Leaving the now-washed fruit on the countertop, Sasuke headed towards the front entrance, the sound of his footsteps causing Seiji Uchiha to look up and make equal pairs of obsidian clash.

"Hey," the twelve year-old greeted noncommittally, returning to the task of removing his footwear.

"Welcome back," the twenty-seven year-old returned. Taking account of the dirt on his son's hands and shoes, he commented, "You're home early."

Seiji grumpily snorted as he removed the ninja bandana on his head so he could better brush his fingers through his hair. "What'd you expect? It was only a few weeds."

"It took my team the whole afternoon when we did it."

Seiji raised a disbelieving eyebrow before shooting his uncle-turned-father a glare. "No it didn't. You're making that up to make me feel better about being stuck with D-ranks all day." Shoving past his guardian, Seiji took extra measure to bump aside his arm – just to get across how ineffective his father's 'cheering up' was.

"You forget that I had Naruto on my team." Sasuke's tone alone told Seiji how unacceptable his attitude was and it made the young boy freeze (and flush, just a little).

Suddenly embarrassed, Seiji coughed and tried to change the subject, "What's to eat tonight?"

Carefully, Sasuke replied, "Fish and rice."

"No tomatoes?" Sasuke glared at the grin he was sure was on the little guy's face.

"Just one. And an apple for you; I just washed them."

A lost moment of silence slipped into the conversation before Seiji sheepishly offered, "I'll cut them, then."

It was as close to an apology as either Uchiha would get.

During dinner, Sasuke kept a close eye on his nephew-turned-son as the boy reported the day's adventure with his team. Seiji was usually enthusiastic and entertaining when he told stories – especially about his team, though Sasuke imagined that was largely thanks to the influence of Mira Kagami, the female Genin – but he was strangely subdued tonight. And while fish wasn't Seiji's favorite food, it wasn't like him to push it around with such a sullen look on his face. He hadn't even touched his apple slices, a side dish that Sakura had served to Seiji every day when he had been in her care. Seiji had said it was weird, the first day he ate supper at Sasuke's and there were no apples to go with his meal. Sasuke now made it a habit to purchase a healthy supplement of apples along with his tomatoes every time he went to the village market.

Seiji's odd behavior continued through the evening. During their spar, Seiji delivered brutal offensive hits but his defensive was weak; squirming out of a defensive position and attacking again, never giving Sasuke a real chance to charge. Seiji often liked to prove that Sasuke couldn't touch him because his evasive maneuvers were sort-of-almost on par with Sasuke's offense. Seiji was the type to defeat an opponent by letting them exhaust themselves and then going in for a swift kill. But tonight he was taking every opportunity to lay harm.

When the boy activated his Sharingan, Sasuke took immediate action to trip and trap him – just as Kakashi had done in Team 7's first survival exercise. Seiji never activated his bloodline in the middle of a spar; it was either on or off at the beginning and stayed that way all through the duration. Seiji prided himself on honor and honesty when fighting a comrade; that included letting them know what they were up against, pulling no tricks in the middle to suddenly gain the upper hand, no toying with your friends.

But faced with the ground, Seiji stilled. An odd reaction, when he'd usually struggle or whine for Sasuke to get off him. Eyebrow raised, Sasuke finally asked him, "Seiji, what happened today?"

Seiji didn't bother feigning ignorance. "They're calling Mom a traitor."

Sasuke tensed. "Who is?"

"Some of the villagers. The woman whose garden we weeded; I overheard her talking to some others about it. She made sure I heard."

Sasuke briefly closed his eyes in a wince for his son. He'd never had it easy, being the bastard son of Konoha's greatest criminal and being raised by Konoha's second greatest criminal. Oh, Sasuke knew of the gossip, heard it every day he shopped at the market. Many people were uneasy about Seiji's presence in the village; waiting for him to turn criminal at any given moment. That was partly why Sasuke had pulled him out of the Academy to cancel out his earlier advancement before enrolling him with kids his own age. Having Seiji rise in the ranks as Itachi had… that would just be _asking_ for trouble among the civilians – and some of the shinobi too.

"Just what are they saying?"

"That she abandoned Leaf. That she's never coming back unless she's got an army of our enemies behind her. That she's the reason our medical supplies have been getting cut off," Seiji's words grew more venomous as he listed off all he had heard. Hearing such awful things said about someone he held dear… It had been enough for him to activate his Sharingan and glare murderously at the women who had been gossiping. "They even said that she's whoring herself around so she can have the children of all the most powerful ninja. That -"

"_Lies_," Sasuke seethed. "Sakura would _never_ do such things."

Even from his horizontal position, Seiji managed to glare at him something fierce. Though their anger was the same, there was something that his uncle didn't know. "Did you know she's already got two?"

Sasuke visibly tensed. "Two_ what_?"

"_Kids_," Seiji spat, "she's been seen travelling with two girls! Twins! They said there have been reports!"

Even his many years of Uchiha reserve couldn't mask Sasuke's shock. While his mouth floundered for another question, a young male voice called from the front of the house, "Uchiha-san? Are you there? Do you have time to come with us to the Hokage Tower?"

An even younger female's vocals followed, "Kaka-kage-sama wants to assign us a C-ranked mission! Can you believe it, Sei-kun? _C! Rank!_"

"C-rank?" Both Uchiha's questioned aloud. Allowing Seiji to remove himself from the dirt, Sasuke shot a glance to his now-excited-but-still-troubled son, who shrugged his dirt-stained shoulders in reply.

"Sei-kun, c'mon; we don't have all night!"

Rolling his eyes in repressed affection, Seiji walked around the house to reach the front with a semi-fake grin, uncaring about Sasuke following him. As expected, it was the other two members of Genin Team 6 that stood out front the house, one as bleak and lean as shadows, the other as cute as a button. Mira Kagami, her warm amber irises shining as bright as her matching hair, with strands that were not tied up in red, red ribbons kissing the many freckles perked on smiling rosy cheeks; and Kako Hidoi, the tall boy's hair streaked with parts black and white, strands half-covering the ragged scar that stretched from his right temple to his chin, broken only by the black eye patch placed over his right socket which hid one of two crimson eyes.

"There you are, Sei-kun!" Mira chirped moments before she tackled the boy in a hug, though her feet weren't anywhere near the ground as she swung from his neck. Seiji, used to this, crouched down so that at least gravity couldn't further help her in strangling the life from him.

"H-H-How do you do, Uchiha-sama?" Kako addressed Sasuke, bowing straight and low. The lanky teenager was always anxious whenever Sasuke was around – or, well, when any ninja was around. Being dumped back to the Academy again and again for failing numerous Jounin's private tests for four years in a row had stunted his confidence and he was always trying to prove himself. It was this worse-than-Naruto record that had landed the sixteen-year-old with the two most prestigious Genin of the year: Seiji, who excelled in defense and was the unspoken leader of their threesome; and Mira, who was actually only ten years old but excelled in setting and detecting all kinds of traps and illusions. She also possessed immaculate control of her chakra, which had been responsible for her breezing through the Academy's curriculum in three years instead of the standard five.

When they had first been introduced, Sasuke didn't think he'd ever seen a stranger team. They seemed to suit Naruto-_sensei _quite well, though.

Nodding to the still-bent-to-the-ground boy, Sasuke politely replied, "Well, thank you," even though he wasn't; the news of Sakura's travelling companions was still troubling his mind. Straightening, Kako stood rigidly, not quite so bold as to meet onyx eyes. "I suppose Naruto pressed for you all to receive this mission?"

"Yep, yep, yep!" It was Mira who answered him, no sense of shame or embarrassment as she met him eye-for-eye (all the while jumping on the spot in sheer excitement). "Na-to-sensei was bored of accompanying us to all our D-ranks so he got us a C-rank instead! Kaka-kage-sama smiled really big when Na-to-sensei asked! Isn't that great, Chiha-sama?" Childish though she may be – especially considering she nicknamed every single person she met – Mira had a… _restricted _semblance of respect for the formidable shinobi in front of her.

Sasuke smirked. Kakashi had probably been remembering the last time Naruto had claimed to be above D-ranks and _demanded _a higher ranked mission. Sasuke silently hoped that Seiji's mission would turn out better than _his_ first C-rank.

"Kagami-chan," Kako started nervously, "are you sure you aren't hurting Uchiha-san?"

Mira tilted her head in a cute 'Heh?' before she realized she had been all but choking Seiji in her euphoria.

"Ah!" she yelped, quickly unweaving her arms from Seiji's neck, worried tears welled up in her eyes as she watched the red in the boy's face slowly decline. "I'm so sorry, Sei-kun!"

Straightening his spine, Seiji reassured her, "Not a problem Mira." Rubbing his neck, he glanced at each of his teammates. "Well? Are we going or not?"

"Squa!" It was Mira's own made-up word that she cheered whenever she was excited. She had several made-up words, in fact, and used them all quite frequently. "Let's go! Ko-san! It's your turn to piggyback!" And before anyone could blink, the little girl had clambered up to rest on Kako's willing back. She giggled with glee and snuggled into his hair when he not-so-reluctantly supported her under her knees and began to walk. As irritating as she could seem to outsiders, both Kako and Seiji appreciated Mira for her innocent, childlike behavior. It was easy to like her when she made them feel so adored all the time. It was easy for all of them to get along actually, Naruto included… because all of them were orphans. More than that, all of them were outcasts. Well, not Naruto so much anymore but still.

Sasuke placed a sturdy hand on Seiji's shoulder. Seiji, though he met his caretaker's eyes, did not question what his hand was there for; he could guess what Sasuke would say.

"Be smart. Keep everyone safe out there."

"Sure thing."

Nodding in approval and giving a single squeeze to his shoulder, Sasuke released his son; giving a quiet, rare smile as Seiji jogged to catch up to his teammates who had stopped to wait for him with smiles of their own. Sasuke was reassured yet again, that holding Seiji back had been the right thing to do.

* * *

"Mei! Kei!" Where had those two run off to now?

Giving a half-hearted sigh, Sakura sat on a nearby bench and looked around the town's rather impressive marketplace. She didn't really mind so much, that the girls liked to play their games with her every chance they got, but she was _hungry_ and she had just bought fresh fruit for them all, thinking she would treat today because her mission's end was finally in sight.

'_Four years…' _she thought, _'I wonder how everyone is doing…'_

Hearing giggling come from her left, Sakura chanced a glance in that direction just in time to see a familiar braid of hair fly behind a crate. Looking to her right, Sakura saw a suspicious-looking cap ducking into a fruit stall – the one Sakura had only recently left. The vendor, an intimidating, middle-aged woman who wore a black apron and looked used to handling all sorts of foolishness but generously gave her a discount when she learned Sakura and the girls were travelers, startled at the appearance of her sudden guest. She soon snuck Sakura a quick glance and a secretive smile; Mei must have just explained her purpose and probably asked to remain hidden. Sakura smiled back at her and leisurely backtracked towards her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but have you seen two little girls of mine? They seem to have snuck off on me." She threw in a wink, just to make sure the lady understood her game.

"Why no," she replied, her country accent not as heavy as some of the others, "I've not seen no child 'round these parts. So sorry I couldn't help ya, Miss."

Sakura waved a hand, sure that Kei was spying on her from her own hiding place. "Oh, it's not a problem at all. It only seems a shame to let such wonderful fruit go to waste," Sakura removed the ripe peach and plump pear from her bag of purchases, holding each in one hand so both girls would see their favorite fruits. Smiling when Mei _inconspicuously _peeked from underneath the counter, Sakura continued with her threat, "Perhaps I ought to trade in these for more of my own favorite fruit?"

The vendor, still glowing from Sakura previous compliment about her self-grown stock, nodded in vigorous agreement, "Yes, yes. Such a shame it is, to eat such fine delicacies and not enjoy 'em. Though, if you'd be happier with two more o' my apples…"

"NO!"  
"WAIT!"

Sakura and the lady laughed as both Mei and Kei spontaneously appeared to grab their precious fruit from Sakura's traitorous hands. The girls, with identical pouts in place on their faces, sulked a little about how unfair Sakura had been. Bribing, pssh! Who even _did_ that nowadays?

Smiling apologetically at them, Sakura turned back to the vendor and took her up on her offer for more apples – so long as she could purchase two more pears and peaches as well.

* * *

Hinata was worried. It was only her and Naruto's laundry that she had been doing, but she was still worried. Terribly so.

It was about Naruto. Ino, had she been present to witness Hinata's fidgeting might have drawled, "It's _always _about Naruto." And true enough, Hinata was one to err on the side of caution and Naruto's tendency to rush head-first into risk and adventure drove her mad with panic sometimes. Given her timid nature, it wasn't like her to assume things and jump to conclusions, and she always looked before she leapt but... Well, what was she _supposed _to think after finding a _ring box _in the pocket of one of Naruto's pants?

Okay so she was more than worried. Hinata was _freaking out_!

And checking all pant pockets before washing them was a habit she'd developed when Naruto accidentally left a couple smoke bombs in his pockets and her favorite white pajamas had come out dark purple (which she resigned to wear only after Naruto told her she looked pretty in purple and the smell had dissipated); it's notlike she was _snooping around_ for proof of Naruto's love for her! No! Hinata knew much better; the fact that their relationship had lasted for nearly four years, and they'd moved in together this time last year (a brand new apartment, a little larger than his old one had been and far _away _from her father), and that they'd even _talked _about living out the rest of their lives really and seriously bound to each other _by law _was more than enough proof for her, thank you very much! They'd even gone looking at engagement rings once or twice but _hell_, she didn't know he'd _bought _one!

Overcome by a sense of calm curiousness, she wondered which one he had selected. She recalled trying on numerous rings and taking note of many likes but not so many favorites. Hinata wasn't very decisive when it came to expensive things like diamonds – mostly because she was aware that they weren't the easiest for Naruto to afford. On anniversaries and special occasions, she'd been more than happy to accept single white roses, soft plushies, and the several kisses on her cheek that he'd sneak in while they spent the day together. She didn't once think Naruto was cheap – it wasn't just her gifts that he'd cut down on spending after all; ramen had been rationed to one bowl a day now for months and he kept sharpening his getting-old ninja gear rather than buying new ones. But despite the lack of spending, he kept pushing Kakashi for more missions. She had suspected for a while now that he was saving up for _something_ but she hadn't really thought all that effort would be for a ring! And by the weariness of the velvet covering, Naruto had been carrying it around with him for a long time.

Okay the panic was back! What was she supposed to do now? Now that she had the worn, little, velvet box in her hand, what was she to do with it? Would he know that she'd seen it? Was she supposed to hide it? Where? Should she pretend she hadn't seen it? What if she had just _ruined _his whole proposal plan?

Beginning to breathe in a quick and shallow pattern, Hinata reached for the home phone. This called for emergency assistance.

"_Bad_ time, you!" Thank _Kami _her sister had picked up!

"Oh, sorry, Hanabi!"

"Sis?" Then there were some shushing sounds mixed along with pleads and violent threats. Then she was back, "Hinata-nee! It's been a while; how are you?"

"Well… See, the thing is, I've got a problem."

"You're pregnant?"

Hinata innocently flushed. She could not _believe _the influence Kiba was having on her little sister!

"N-No! What on-on _Earth _gave you _th-that _idea?" Naruto had helped cure her stutter ages ago – he'd made such a big deal about it when they'd shared a full dinner conversation without her stuttering once, and had proceeded to drag her to an ice cream vendor in cause of celebration. And it wasn't just him; she could talk to nearly anyone without uttering a single stutter now. Unfortunately, it had a nasty trick of reappearing whenever she was on the verge of fainting.

Uh oh.

"Nee-san? You're stuttering; are you going to _faint?_"

She never got a chance to answer; she was too busy moving to sit on the floor so that when she did eventually pass out, she wouldn't have an injuring fall. Deaf to the urgent calls of her sister calling her name and saying she'd be right over, a red-faced Hinata closed her pale eyes and fell back, that little box still clutched tightly in her hands.

* * *

"Wait. Hold up."

Everyone in the room looked expectantly towards Naruto who was posing dramatically with a hand in front that just said 'stop'.

"Are you telling me that you've upgraded us from looking for lost cats to looking for lost kids?"

Kakashi – almost four years in the Hokage position and he was already set to retire – gave a heaving sigh. "In a way, yes, Naruto, I _am _telling you that."

Naruto sputtered. "But-But-But _you said_ we'd get a C-rank mission! Not a _Lame-_rank mission!"

"Naruto, searching for missing persons _is_ C-rank."

"But there's no adventure to be found in hunting down kids!" (_'Good to know you're not a pedophile,'_ Kakashi thought before he could stop it from crossing his mind.)

"But isn't it a pleasant step up from weeding the grass or cleaning up animal droppings?" Kakashi tempted, a large grin residing under his mask. "Several, even?"

Team 6 laughed at the memories while Naruto simply flushed and crossed his arms in a pout. "I still haven't forgiven you for that."

"Regardless," the Hokage continued, falling into business mode, "can I trust that you and your team will successfully complete this mission or should I hand it off to another? Kiba's perhaps?"

Naruto bristled. He hadn't forgiven Kiba either. Rolling his eyes, Naruto made his groan of annoyance extra loud – just to make life harder on Kakashi – and snatched the mission scroll from Kakashi's outstretched hand.

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face," Naruto only half-threatened, his blood beginning to pump with the idea of stretching his legs _outside _village walls. "Well team," gesturing invitingly towards the office door, "are you ready to put your tracking skills to use?"

"Hai, sensei!"

Ah, Naruto beamed, being called 'sensei' would _never _get old.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I had tons of fun writing this chapter! If you're in the mood to review, I'd really like to hear your thought on each section, even if it's just a sentence or two:  
-Sasuke and Seiji interaction / Team 6 interaction  
-Sakura and Mei and Kei interaction  
-Hinata (I never knew she was so much fun to write!)  
-Naruto and Kakashi interaction (and yeah, I follow the anime so I don't know if Kakashi ever _does _become the Hokage. But for argument's sake, in my fic, he officially came into the position shortly after Sakura left - Sakura's mission was the last one Tsunade ever assigned.)


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